'He has to be stopped': Bay Area Dems call for removal of President Trump after US Capitol siege
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Many Bay Area lawmakers were inside the U.S. Capital building when people stormed in on Wednesday. Some of them described what they saw and heard.
"Then they were pounding on the door so they told us to lie down in the marble floors which we did and then there was a shot that I heard," California District 14 Congresswoman Jackie Speier describing the moment when people stormed into the U.S. Capital building Wednesday. Speier says she quickly learned that there are gas masks under each seat of the house chamber.
RELATED: Bay Area Congresswoman Jackie Speier describes moment pro-Trump rioters stormed Capitol building
"There was an announcement made that the Capitol had been breached and we should sit in our seats and wait, that we should get out the gas mask and I have one here to show you. It's in this packing like this and then when you open it up you can hear this thing taking off," said Speier.
"I heard people pounding on the doors," says California District 11 Congressman Mark DeSaulnier. DeSaulnier described what happened as an 'attack' and described those inside the capital building as part of a "mob."
"I don't know how anyone could know anything about the American constitution and know how we are founded and formed to believe that they were doing the right thing by attacking the US Capital, attacking the people that represent," said DeSaulnier.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi addressed the situation Wednesday evening.
"To those who strove to deter us from our responsibility, you have failed. To those who engaged in the gleeful desecration of this, our temple of democracy, American democracy, justice will be done."
Representative Barbara Lee tweeted Wednesday night calling for President Trump's removal. Something echoed by DeSaulnier and Speier.
"He has to be stopped and I'm afraid at what he is going to do in the next two weeks," said Congresswoman Speier.
Senator Dianne Feinstein took to Twitter Wednesday evening saying, "President Trump must stop inciting violence with false claims of election fraud."
She went on to say in more than 60 cases, judge after judge found no evidence of voter fraud. Feinstein described Wednesday as a "dark day that will take a long time and a lot of work to overcome."
VIDEO: Social media videos show chaos, violence on frontlines of US Capitol clashes
ABC7 News also talked to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf as angry supporters of President Trump swarmed the U.S. Capitol while the House and Senate met to debate the counting of Electoral College votes.
"It is shocking and a tragic day for American democracy," Mayor Schaaf told ABC7 Mornings anchor Reggie Aqui. "To see these images that no one could ever imagine would happen in America's seat of government is beyond tragic," Schaaf added.
Mayor Schaaf said she remains concerned that the country has tremendous healing work to do, and that people on both sides of the political spectrum are in pain and suffering.
VIDEO: Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf responds to the chaos at the U.S. Capitol
The mayor ended with a message to the community. "Do not lose faith in American democracy. Do not lose faith in the power of your vote and your advocacy. Continue to push leaders, including myself, to be more responsive to the American people, but also to not cross the line between hate, violence, and what is the beloved right of every American to engage in protest and free speech."
San Francisco Mayor London Breed addressed the chaos on Capitol Hill in a tweet, calling it "an attempted coup encouraged by the President of the United States."
WATCH: Mob of Trump supporters storm Capitol in DC, lawmakers evacuated; 1 shot during melee
