Norma Torres, a California congresswoman who represents the state's 35th District east of Los Angeles, shared a harrowing account of her experience at the U.S. Capitol last week as she fled a violent mob of pro-Trump extremists who breached the building.
"I was one of 12 trapped in the House gallery. I heard the shot being fired. I saw the smoke from the tear gas having been deployed," the Democratic congresswoman recounted during a House rules committee meeting Tuesday.
"I was in the last group to be evacuated. We ran down the halls, stairs near a mob that was being held on the ground at gunpoint. I sheltered for four to five hours in a room that was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people."
She added: "While running for my life, I answered my phone to my son Christopher," she described, emotionally. "The call lasted 27 seconds. All I could say, 'Sweetheart, I'm OK. I'm running for my life,' and I hung up."