Logistics of Timing of Trump Rally and Capitol Breach on January 6, 2021

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

A last minute impeachment is underway.  The political elite are trying to remove Donald Trump from office as the countdown for him to step out of the White House is rapidly approaching on the grounds of inciting violence.  Their accusation is that he incited violence against Congress, and the Capitol nearly two weeks ago.  In other words, the violent breach of security and storming of the Capitol, of which I argue was initiated by leftist infiltrators posing as Trump supporters, was Trump's fault because he incited them to act in such a manner at his speech near the White House on January 6, 2021.

According to the Washington Times, "The president’s speech ended at 12:45 p.m. and the Capitol was first breeched [sic] at 2:15 p.m."

An image at the Washington Post shows President Trump speaking on the sidewalk just outside the fence around the White House, stating that the speech began at noon.  Near the bottom of the Washington Post page it claims the speech ended at 1:10 pm.  According to that same website, however, the initial wave of protesters storming the outer barricade west of the Capitol building as senators and Vice President Pence walked to the House chamber occurred at 1:00 pm, a mere fifteen minutes after the end of Trump's speech, according to the Washington Times, and ten minutes before Trump's speech ended according to the Washington Post.  The Washington Post states the Capitol police were overtaken, and the Trump supporters began marching up the steps of the Capitol at 1:30 pm.  The Post then agrees with the Washington Times that the Capitol was actually breached at 2:15 pm.

According to my Navigation program on my phone (image on this page), it takes about 36 minutes to walk from the White House to the Capitol.  The time is based on the average time it would take an average adult to make the walk.  The witnesses who were at the event I have spoken to said the crowd seeing Trump speak was a diverse group, but was dominated by folks in the twilight years of their life, which means they were probably not as quick to walk the nearly two miles as one might consider.  Multiple witnesses have told me that people lingered at the speech site after Trump had concluded his remarks, talking to each other for a while, and that many decided to grab some food or go to their hotel rooms first, before heading towards the planned march route, and the Capitol.

Key times:

12:00 pm: Trump's speech began.

12:45 pm: Trump's speech ends according to Washington Times.

1:00 pm: Outer barricades stormed by protesters.

1:10 pm: Trump's speech ended according to Washington Post.

1:21 pm: Arrival of first Trump speech attendees if Washington Times' 12:45 ending time is accurate, and if those people did not stop to use the restroom, grab a bite to eat, or went to their hotel first, but walked immediately to the Capitol at the pace suggested as the average according to Navigator.

1:30 pm: Capitol Police overtaken at steps of Capitol.

1:41 pm: Arrival of first Trump speech attendees if Washington Post's 1:10 pm ending time is accurate, and if those people did not stop to use the restroom, grab a bite to eat, or went to their hotel first, but walked immediately to the Capitol at the pace suggested as the average according to Navigator.

2:15 pm: Capitol building actually breached by protesters.

2:50-3:00 pm: Likely earliest arrival time of Trump supporters from rally who heard Trump speak if they lingered, or grabbed a bite to eat, or went to their hotel rooms before proceeding towards Capitol.

Notice that the outer barricades were initially stormed by protesters merely fifteen minutes after Trump's speech ended according to the Washington Times, and ten minutes before his speech ended according to the Washington Post.

The overtaking of the Capitol Police by alleged protesters occurred nine minutes after the earliest possible arrival of attendees of Trump's speech.  Human nature suggests that because this was a social event the journey took longer than 36 minutes because folks were strolling, and discussing the speech they had just heard.  Also, video evidence reveals that for the most part the people who muscled their way beyond the outer barricades at 1:00 pm, stormed the steps of the Capitol at 1:30 pm, and eventually breached the building at 2:15 pm were for the most part the same folks, meaning the violence began long before even the swiftest walkers could reach the Capitol from Trump's speech, and continued before the average Trump speech attendee could realize what was going on.  Furthermore, since the true Trump supporters who had attended Trump's speech didn't arrive until later, they are probably the ones who simply followed the lead of what was going on ahead of them, not realizing violence had been involved, and are captured on video walking through the building in a single-file line and remaining within the velvet ropes.  The last time I checked, it would be unlikely that violent rioters would stroll through a building, in a single-file, careful to remain within a corded-off pathway.  Hardly the image of an unruly mob of violent rioters.  Of the folks who were there that I talked to, in true conservative fashion, when they realized something wrong had been going on, they steered away from the Capitol rather than joining the breach of the facility.  Based on basic principles of human nature, and the facts as presented by the Washington Post and the Washington Times, the likelihood that the folks involved in the violence caught on camera by the media at the Capitol were true Trump supporters, and more specifically, those who attended the speech by President Trump at the White House earlier that day is zero.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary