WASHINGTON — January 6 is a tough day for many people who work at the U.S. Capitol, among them Sharon Nichols. The Hill staffer was barricaded in her office alone on Jan. 6, 2021, worried rioters might break in and attack her.
"It was terrifying," Nichols, communications director for Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, (D-DC), said. "I was alone for hours and hours. Watching it on TV get more and more violent."
Nichols was supposed to be working from home still, but had gone to the Capitol to get her long-awaited COVID vaccine. She quickly found herself locked down and ordered to shelter in place by Capitol Police.
"I went back to my office and locked the door," she recalled. "I turned the lights out. I put a chair in front of the door."
Nichols said she'd gone in to work thinking the Capitol was among the safest places in the world.
"For me, the real struggle was enduring it all alone," she said. "And I was there alone for about eight hours."
At about 8:15 p.m. police finally escorted her to safety.
Nichols didn't return to work at the Rayburn House Office Building for months, saying the attack traumatized her. She still keeps an inventory of where her important belongings are so she can get out quickly. And she's helped set up the Capitol Community Support Group, where anyone who is still hurting can reach out for help.
"There’s an element of moral injury to this, and the fact that we’re not here for the pay," Nichols said. "We're here to serve. Congressional staffers are not rich people. We want to serve our country."
Nichols said she has no doubt the former president Trump is responsible for the attack.
"In my mind, he’s the primary player," she said.
And she worries it could happen again.
"The minute we stop talking about it, the minute we stop being vigilant, it could happen again," she said.
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