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'Get Out Alive': Colorado Congressman Jason Crow Recalls Attack On U.S. Capitol One Year Later

January 6, 2022 / 11:38 AM MST / CBS Colorado

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AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- It was one year ago when the assault on the U.S. Capitol took place. Colorado Congressman Jason Crow of Aurora is also a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 6: Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and other members take cover as protesters attempt to disrupt the joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College vote on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Crow recalled the events of Jan. 6, 2021 which took place after former President Donald Trump told a Washington rally, "Our country has had enough and we will not take it anymore, that's what this is all about."

The crowd cheered then marched to where the election was being finalized by the U.S. Senate.

Protesters climbed walls and battled with police, then poured into the Capitol with Congress busy inside.

Crow recalled, "We locked the doors, properly barricaded them and sat there as the mob tried to break down the barricades to make it to us and kill and capture members of Congress."

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (credit: Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

The insurgents headed for the House chambers. That's when Crow's training kicked in.

"As we came under attack, I came back into that combat mode again about how we were going to fight our way or make a stand in that chamber to get out alive," he told an online news conference from Washington.

It was a picture that of Crow shielding Representative Susan Wild of Pennsylvania that grabbed attention.

Rep. Jason Crow comforts Rep. Susan Wild while taking cover as protesters disrupt the joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021. (credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"My biggest fear was that I wouldn't return to my family," Crow said.

A year later Crow regrets the Republicans remain under what he calls "the spell" of former President Trump, including Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert.

"Boebert is a problem, in my view, because her rhetoric is so just spiteful and hateful," Crow said.

Dismayed by the past and fearful of the future, Crow is ready to take action. He plans to announce several steps to help reaffirm America's commitment to democracy.