A year after the January 6th insurrection, some of the lawmakers who were trapped in the upper House balcony that day, including one from Connecticut, are still recovering from lingering trauma. They were the last group to be evacuated, after the rest of their colleagues had been ushered out from the floor below. The roughly three dozen lawmakers were evacuated safely.  

4th District Congressman Jim Himes says he has tried not to dwell on what happened. But he still has searing images in his mind, including watching police drag heavy furniture in front of the main doors to the House floor as the rioters tried to beat them down.

As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Himes says he spends a lot of time in high-security spaces — and before January 6th, he had assumed the Capitol was one of them.

Himes says it was as though watching water flow uphill, adding it was something that he imagined was impossible was happening right in front of his eyes.