The Jan. 6 House select committee revealed never-before-seen surveillance footage Thursday of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) fleeing the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection, not long after he’d infamously held up a fist in solidarity with Donald Trump supporters as they prepared to storm the building.
The footage was shown during the second hour of the committee hearing, with Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) describing how Hawley fanned the flames of the insurrection shortly before running to safety.
“Earlier that afternoon, before the joint session started, [Hawley] walked across the east front of the Capitol,” Luria said, referring to the congressional session to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. “As you can see in this photo, he raised his fist in solidarity with the protesters already massing at the security gates.”
“We spoke with a Capitol Police officer that was out there at the time,” Luria continued. “She told us that Senator Hawley’s gesture riled up the crowd. And it bothered her greatly because he was doing it in a safe space, protected by the officers in the barriers. Later that day, Senator Hawley fled after those protesters he helped to rile up stormed the Capitol. See for yourself.”
The committee then played the footage — showing Hawley at a near sprint running through the halls of Congress — first at its actual speed and then a second time, in slow motion.
The audience inside the hearing broke into laughter, and the footage quickly became red meat for the internet, an ultimate “how it started, how it’s going.” Before the hearing even ended, Twitter users scored the footage with music ranging from Kate Bush to Benny Hill.
The footage aired on ABC, NBC and CBS, as well as most of the cable news networks, including CNN and MSNBC.
Fox News did not air Thursday night’s hearing. Hawley did appear on Fox News a short time before the committee showed the footage of him skedaddling from the Senate on Jan. 6, 2021. He talked to host Tucker Carlson in a segment during which the pair fear-mongered about undocumented migrants.