Bombings, shootings, beatings: A history of violence at US Capitol

Published: 11 Jan 2021 02:01 BdST Updated: 11 Jan 2021 02:01 BdST

A chronology of some of the most notorious acts of violence to flare at the Capitol - shootings, bombings, a knife attack, a beating by cane and even an assassination attempt.
  • The storming of the halls of Congress by a mob of President Trump's supporters is the latest episode of violence to darken the US Capitol in a history dating back to a British arson attack in Washington during the War of 1812. Here is a chronology of some of the most notorious acts of violence to flare at the Capitol - shootings, bombings, a knife attack, a beating by cane and even an assassination attempt. REUTERS/Leah Millis

    The storming of the halls of Congress by a mob of President Trump's supporters is the latest episode of violence to darken the US Capitol in a history dating back to a British arson attack in Washington during the War of 1812. Here is a chronology of some of the most notorious acts of violence to flare at the Capitol - shootings, bombings, a knife attack, a beating by cane and even an assassination attempt. REUTERS/Leah Millis

  • 1814 - Invading British forces torched the original Capitol building while it was still under construction, setting bonfires of furniture in the House of Representatives and the original Supreme Court chamber. Courtesy Library of Congress

    1814 - Invading British forces torched the original Capitol building while it was still under construction, setting bonfires of furniture in the House of Representatives and the original Supreme Court chamber. Courtesy Library of Congress

  • 1835 - In the first known attempt on a US president's life, a disgruntled house painter tried to shoot Andrew Jackson as he emerged from a funeral in the House chamber. The assailant's two flintlock derringers both misfired, and an enraged Jackson clubbed the would-be assassin with his walking stick before the man was subdued. The suspect was found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined to a mental institution. Courtesy Library of Congress

    1835 - In the first known attempt on a US president's life, a disgruntled house painter tried to shoot Andrew Jackson as he emerged from a funeral in the House chamber. The assailant's two flintlock derringers both misfired, and an enraged Jackson clubbed the would-be assassin with his walking stick before the man was subdued. The suspect was found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined to a mental institution. Courtesy Library of Congress

  • 1856 - An abolitionist senator, Charles Sumner of Massachusetts (pictured), was savagely beaten with a cane by his South Carolina colleague, Preston Brooks, on the Senate floor after delivering a speech criticizing slavery. Courtesy Library of Congress

    1856 - An abolitionist senator, Charles Sumner of Massachusetts (pictured), was savagely beaten with a cane by his South Carolina colleague, Preston Brooks, on the Senate floor after delivering a speech criticizing slavery. Courtesy Library of Congress

  • 1915 - A former Harvard University German language professor used a timing device to detonate three sticks of dynamite in an empty Senate reception room during a holiday recess. The professor, angry that American financiers were aiding the British against Germany during World War One, then fled to New York, where he shot and slightly injured banker J.P. Morgan. He was subsequently captured and later took his own life in jail. Courtesy Library of Congress

    1915 - A former Harvard University German language professor used a timing device to detonate three sticks of dynamite in an empty Senate reception room during a holiday recess. The professor, angry that American financiers were aiding the British against Germany during World War One, then fled to New York, where he shot and slightly injured banker J.P. Morgan. He was subsequently captured and later took his own life in jail. Courtesy Library of Congress

  • 1954 - A group of four armed Puerto Rican nationalists indiscriminately opened fire on the House floor from the visitors' gallery and unfurled a Puerto Rican flag. Five members of Congress were wounded. The four assailants - three men and a woman - were apprehended and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, which President Jimmy Carter commuted in 1979. Courtesy Collection of the US House of Representatives

    1954 - A group of four armed Puerto Rican nationalists indiscriminately opened fire on the House floor from the visitors' gallery and unfurled a Puerto Rican flag. Five members of Congress were wounded. The four assailants - three men and a woman - were apprehended and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, which President Jimmy Carter commuted in 1979. Courtesy Collection of the US House of Representatives

  • 1971 - A bomb planted by the radical antiwar group Weather Underground to protest the US-backed invasion of Laos was detonated in a restroom on the Senate side of the Capitol, causing extensive damage but no casualties. Library of Congress/ Marion S. Trikosko

    1971 - A bomb planted by the radical antiwar group Weather Underground to protest the US-backed invasion of Laos was detonated in a restroom on the Senate side of the Capitol, causing extensive damage but no casualties. Library of Congress/ Marion S. Trikosko

  • 1983 - A bomb concealed under a bench outside the Senate chamber exploded, blowing the hinges off the door to the office of then-Senate Democratic leader Robert Byrd and damaging a portrait of renowned lawyer-statesman Daniel Webster. No one was hurt. A militant leftist group said it carried out the bombing in retaliation for US military involvement in Lebanon and Grenada. Courtesy US Senate Historical Office

    1983 - A bomb concealed under a bench outside the Senate chamber exploded, blowing the hinges off the door to the office of then-Senate Democratic leader Robert Byrd and damaging a portrait of renowned lawyer-statesman Daniel Webster. No one was hurt. A militant leftist group said it carried out the bombing in retaliation for US military involvement in Lebanon and Grenada. Courtesy US Senate Historical Office

  • 1998 - An armed man stormed through a US Capitol security checkpoint and opened fire, fatally wounding two police officers, and made his way to the Republican Whip's office of Representative Tom DeLay. A tourist also was injured. The two slain officers became the first private citizens to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. REUTERS/Files

    1998 - An armed man stormed through a US Capitol security checkpoint and opened fire, fatally wounding two police officers, and made his way to the Republican Whip's office of Representative Tom DeLay. A tourist also was injured. The two slain officers became the first private citizens to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda. REUTERS/Files

  • 2001 - United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers stormed the cockpit to overpower suicide hijackers, whose likely intended target was later determined by investigators to have been the US Capitol. REUTERS/Tim...MORE

    2001 - United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers stormed the cockpit to overpower suicide hijackers, whose likely intended target was later determined by investigators to have been the US Capitol. REUTERS/Tim...MORE

  • 2013 - A woman who tried to drive through a White House security checkpoint was chased by authorities to the Capitol, where she was shot dead. Her baby daughter was found unharmed in the vehicle. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

    2013 - A woman who tried to drive through a White House security checkpoint was chased by authorities to the Capitol, where she was shot dead. Her baby daughter was found unharmed in the vehicle. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

  • 2021 - Hundreds of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and occupied the building for hours, ransacking offices, forcing an evacuation of lawmakers and interrupting their certification of the November presidential election. One woman in the mob was shot to death by police in a corridor, and one of several police officers injured in clashes with protesters died. Three more died of medical emergencies on the grounds during the tumult. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

    2021 - Hundreds of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and occupied the building for hours, ransacking offices, forcing an evacuation of lawmakers and interrupting their certification of the November presidential election. One woman in the mob was shot to death by police in a corridor, and one of several police officers injured in clashes with protesters died. Three more died of medical emergencies on the grounds during the tumult. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

 

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