A southern Missouri congressman who serves as the GOP Conference Secretary says he was one of the last six members to leave the U.S. House floor last Wednesday, before the deadly Capitol riot in Washington.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem) represents 30 counties across southern Missouri (file photo courtesy of Congressman Smith’s office)

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, tells Missourinet that a woman who was shot to death during the rioting was 25 yards from him.

“When we heard the gunshots we didn’t know if it was an intruder or what it was, but it was right there at the House floor door,” Smith says.

Smith says he had to walk past the woman’s body as officers worked frantically to get innocent people to safety. He says he and the five other House members secured an exit in a stairwell, moments before rioters took over the House floor.

Smith, who objected to the November presidential election results, is demanding that every person who broke into the U.S. Capitol be prosecuted. He says it was a terror attack.

“Every person who broke into the United States Capitol should be prosecuted to the fullest of the law,” says Smith. “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you believe in, what you did was a terror attack on the United States of America and it’s unacceptable.”

Smith says Capitol Police instructed him to put on a gas mask last Wednesday, after tear gas was used to prevent rioters from breaking doors down.

The “New York Times” reports the top federal prosecutor in Washington says more than 70 people tied to the riot have been charged with crimes, and that he expects that number to rise into the hundreds.

Congressman Smith predicts that all of the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, which was recorded on January 11, 2020 at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City:

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