New York Times journalist Jeremy W. Peters writes Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R) brought a gun with him to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Blackstone’s Punchbowl News AM published an except of Peters’ new book which says:

Kinzinger’s wife had asked him about joining him at the Capitol to watch as Congress and the vice president, in his constitutional role as the president of the Senate, carried out their formal duties in the process of finalizing the election. … This procedure had gone off with only minor hiccups since Congress started doing it in the mid-twentieth century.

But Kinzinger told his wife to stay home. He also told his staff not to come into the office. And he packed his pistol, an older .38 caliber Ruger LCP, before leaving. Like many who were there that day, Kinzinger recalls an almost bestial energy hanging in the air. “I felt a real darkness over the place that I’ve never felt before,” he says. Later, after speaking to law enforcement officers who were on the scene, he recalls that one told him, “We felt a lot of evil out there.”

The except continues:

Kinzinger still felt uneasy…and decided to return to his office across the street in the Rayburn House Office Building. He took the underground tunnels to avoid the crowds, which by then had advanced closer to the Capitol. He had not been in his office long when a chilling alert from the Capitol Police landed in the email inboxes of members and congressional staffers. Time-stamped at 2:18 p.m., it said there was a threat inside the building. Everyone should close, lock, and stay away from external doors and windows. “Remain quiet,” the email continued, ordering them to silence all electronics. “No one will be permitted to enter or exit the building until directed by USCP.”

Kinzinger barricaded himself inside his office and took out his gun.

On November 11, 2021, The Hill pointed to a Rolling Stones’ interview of Kinzinger in which he said he was “hunkered down” inside his office for hours “with [his] gun out.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.