Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Biden’s new environmental justice office aims to tackle the health impacts disproportionately faced by people of color

        Jessica Kutz · June 2
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
      • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

        Candice Norwood · February 18
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: How pregnant people can prepare for a summer of heat waves

        Jessica Kutz · June 17
      • The 19th Explains: How new Title IX guidelines on sexual misconduct may give more help to survivors

        Nadra Nittle · June 14
      • The 19th Explains: How would overturning Roe v. Wade affect IVF?

        Jennifer Gerson · May 27
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a member

Donate to support our mission

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Kathleen Rice
Rep. Kathleen Rice speaks at a hearing on June 20, 2019. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

Election 2020

‘We had to run faster’: Rep. Kathleen Rice of New York recalls the Capitol riot

The 19th collected first-hand accounts of January 6 from nearly two dozen women in Congress.

Mariel Padilla

General Assignment Reporter

Mariel Padilla portrait

Published

2021-03-16 13:10
1:10
March 16, 2021
pm

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

About one month after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, The 19th reached out to all 143 women in the 117th Congress to ask about their experiences on January 6. Twenty-three shared their points of view from that day. We are also publishing each lawmaker’s full account of that day. Here is what Rep. Kathleen Rice of New York told The 19th. The transcript has been lightly edited: 

I live with a colleague of mine, and the day before we brought work clothes in the office and left them in the office. We did not want to come into the office and be seen or recognized. We came incognito in workout clothes and no pin. Most people were working from home. I didn’t want any of my staff in the Capitol complex.

So I spent most of the morning in my office and at one point, I walked over to a colleague’s office with a House colleague of mine and ended up in an office in the basement of the Capitol right by where the rioters broke in. A guard said we should not be over there and practically pushed us into an open office and said to stay put. We were there 10 to 15 minutes before the breach. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

We shut the door, didn’t make any noise and put the chair against the door. We put the TV on with no noise. I was barricaded in an office with a colleague just one floor below where the rioters broke in on the west side. For about an hour, it sounded like there was a herd of elephants smashing through windows and making all this noise. We spent the next four or five hours in that room, just waiting for them to get control of the Capitol.

Oh my God, I mean there were insurrectionists in the building and they were pounding on doors, trying to bust doors down. I was petrified, I didn’t know where they were going. I didn’t realize that some of them had maps, how to get to certain offices, get to the House and Senate floor. I’m forever grateful to the Capitol Police for taking us.

My colleague and I were still in the office watching the TV; the sounds of the rioters had quieted as they moved toward the chambers. An officer eventually came to get us. The Capitol Police had set up a water eye-rinsing station nearby to flush the rioters’ pepper spray out. We ran for nearly 15 minutes through the basement tunnels. We didn’t see any rioters, but at one point, the officer told me to take my shoes off, because we had to run faster. It was just horrifying. 

A newsletter you can relate to

Storytelling that represents you, delivered to your inbox.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

We still heard the rioters, but we did not see any in the tunnel system. I think most of the rioters were upstairs trying to get onto the floors of the House and Senate. I guess I felt safe once I was in the room with all the senators. They brought water bottles. Of course, some members were not wearing masks. Then we went to the floor and voted. 

Read more recollections from the Capitol

  • ‘I felt horror, absolute horror’: Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York recalls the Capitol riot
  • ‘We didn’t know if we would encounter a mob’: Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey recalls the Capitol riot
  • ‘I’m running for my life. I cannot talk to you right now’: 23 women in Congress recall the Capitol riot

The days that followed, as I kept watching more of the video, I got angrier and angrier as we got further from the event. It was so predictable that this could happen. It was very, very upsetting to me after we finally took control of the Capitol that a lot of Republicans got up and continued to push the big lie. It was just horrifying. It seems so surreal.  I never imagined that this could have happened. It’s just unbelievable that this could happen in our country. It’s just unbelievable. And the [former] president of the United States was sitting in the Oval Office and no one — not even his kids — were not able to get through to him to call off the mob. This was just an incredibly sad day, certainly one of the saddest in my life. 

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a member

Donate to support our mission

Up Next

Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., conducts a news conference at the House Triangle.

Election 2020

‘That’s when I broke down’: Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada recalls the Capitol riot

The 19th collected first-hand accounts of January 6 from nearly two dozen women in Congress.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram