Real quick before I jump back in, just a couple quick notes. Thanks for all the kind comments, I honestly wasn't sure how much interest this would draw. I especially enjoy that it has prompted some of you to share your stories from that day. I will say that it was not all bad and yes there were many amazing people there who we enjoyed getting to know. Now back to the story...

At first, I hate to admit but I just kind of froze up. Why would they be launching tear gas? We just left the speech so they couldn't have been there for more than a couple minutes. I knew they would not have done anything to provoke TEAR GAS, are you kidding me? I finally snapped out of it and turned to another member of the group who had returned to the hotel with me. "We need to get back out there and find them, they're tear gassing the crowd.", I said. I headed for the elevator while my friend tried to squeeze his swollen feet back into his boots. Standing just outside the elevators, just sort of lingering there was a German couple. They were asking me all kinds of questions about what I had seen and what was happening. I was polite but at this point I'm pretty much on maximum paranoia mode. Who the hell are these random Germans here for a "Stop the Steal" Trump rally? I told them I couldn't understand why the crowd was being attacked and that I was going out to take a look for myself because I didn't trust how the media would try to portray things. About this time my friend appeared from down the hallway, and we quickly descended to the lobby. There was a nervous buzz running through the hotel patrons. As we exited the lobby to the street outside it looked like an evacuation scene from a disaster movie. Every hotel had a line of cars at the entrance. People were frantically loading their bags and trying to get the hell out of dodge. I texted the other group, "Hey, head towards the hotel and we'll start heading your way. Meet you on the street somewhere in the middle." I didn't know at the time that they were still caught up in a storm of chaos. Back to the Capital...One member of our group watched as a man in his seventies caught a police baton to the temple. Blood sprayed people nearby as a gash opened up and he fell to the ground. This was again totally unprovoked as at this time he was just yelling at the police line and standing in front of the metal barricade. Everyone later said that these "police" seemed odd and one even began to tear up as he faced members of the crowd asking why they were attacking them with gas and pepper spray. I'm not sure what to make of this but we wondered if not everyone in a police uniform that day was actually a police officer (pure speculation). Members of our group attempted to reach the man but were quickly pushed aside as a new group forced their way forward to the barricade from behind. As this new group came to the barricade many began to pull and jostle the barricade, creating a tug of war with the police. One friend shouted to the others in the group, "Let's get out of here!" but the noise drowned out their cries. Suddenly a cop reached over the barricade and sprayed one of our group directly in the face with pepper spray. That person recalled their shock when they realized it was just water. Why would they have water instead of pepper spray? I have since heard others report the same experience and I'm still not sure what to make of it. Finally, one member of the group physically grabbed the others and dragged them back away and shouted again, "We need to regroup, let's fall back and access the situation!" About twenty minutes later we were reunited on the sidewalk, somewhere between the hotel and the capital building. I remember a strong wave of relief washed over me as I saw them appear from the crowd. They quickly gave us the rundown and brought us up to speed, and I shared how the MSM was already ramping up the "violent insurrection" narrative to the rest of the country.

FYI...I will likely finish all parts today and post them since I have a day off