Houston man describes Capitol chaos during protest in DC
HOUSTON - A Houston man flew home Friday after being among the Trump supporters who stormed past barricades to climb the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.
Wilmar Montano is recovering from bumps and bruises after joining the crowd of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. While he didn’t go inside the building, he described how it all happened and why he joined the protest.
"The elections were fraudulent," said Montano. "There’s something going on."
Montano voted for the first time in 2020, casting a ballot for Donald Trump a year after he became a U.S. citizen.
He told FOX 26 he flew to the U.S. Capitol to join the January 6th protest because he believes election fraud may have compromised his vote.
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"I’m afraid because I’m originally from El Salvador, and when I was living there, I grew up, and I went through the civil war, and the election system was very very bad," said Montano.
He says he was at the edge of the Capitol Building barricade Wednesday when protesters pushed past it, so he joined them.
"The cops didn’t say anything, so some people moved the rest of the barricade barriers, and they put them off to the side, and they started walking more toward the Capitol steps," said Montano. "The police presence was almost nonexistent when we got there."
He says he climbed the Capitol steps, and before he knew it, he was being pushed toward the door.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE ON THE CAPITOL RIOT
"I turned around, trying to get out, and it was really impossible because people kept pushing in," said Montano. "So I found myself really close to the cops, and so I was like with my hands up, and I told them, I’m not part of this. I’m trying to get out."
He ended up getting hit I the head when someone threw a speaker.
"It was a speaker about two feet big, and it hit me on the top of my head, and I have a little cut here, so I was bleeding," said Montano.
He says he’s glad he protested, despite the chaos.
"It was mostly peaceful," said Montano. "So there’s nothing wrong with us peacefully protesting. So I don’t regret it."
MORE: US Capitol police officer dies of injuries sustained during pro-Trump riots, officials say