US Capitol has seen violence in its 220- year history, but not like this – FOX40

(NEXSTAR) On Wednesday, the U.S. Capitol saw an unprecedented display of violence like none in its 220-year history.

A roiling mob forced its way past the Capitols marble columns, disrupted the passage of power and desecrated the seat of the worlds greatest democracy.

But it was far from the first time the Capitol has been scarred by violence.

In 1814, just 14 years after the building opened, British forces in the War of 1812 tried to burn it down.

Over the centuries since, the 540-room building has been bombed several times. There have been shootings. One legislator almost killed another.

Here is a look at the Capitols violent past.

On Jan. 30, 1835, British immigrant Richard Lawrencetried to assassinatePresident Andrew Jackson as he was leaving a congressional funeral at the U.S. Capitol. Lawrences attempt failed twice once because of a pistol malfunction and again when he missed his target. It was the first known assassination attempt on a U.S. president.

In 1856, South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooksbrutally beatMassachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner with a cane in the Senate Chamber for delivering a speech against slavery. Sumner eventually recovered and Brooks resigned.

On the Fourth of July in 1915, former Harvard University professor Erich Muenterignited three sticks of dynamitein the Senate Reception Room, later explaining his anger over American financiers helping the UK in World War I despite U.S. neutrality at the time. There were no injuries.

On March 1, 1954, five members of the House of Representatives two Republicans and three Democrats were shot on the House floor. One of them Alvin Bentley, R-Mich. was critically wounded. Four Puerto Rican nationalists who were part of an organization demanding independence from the U.S. were arrested and ultimately imprisoned. As they fired, the shooters were heard shouting, Freedom forPuerto Rico. The incident prompted a change in Capitol security measures.

In the early hours of March 1, 1971, The antiwar Weather Underground planted a bomb on the Senate side of the Capitol, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage,but no casualties.

On July 24, 1998, gunman Russell Eugene Weston Jr., fired shots into the Capitol building, killing U.S. Capitol Police officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson. Angela Dickerson, who was visiting the Capitol, was injured during the attack.

On Nov. 7, 1983, a group calling itself the Armed Resistance Unit set off a bomb outside the Senate Chamber to protest the militarys actions in Grenada and Lebanon. There were no casualties, but seven peoplewere charged.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, after terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a fourth hijacked airliner was headed toward the U.S. Capitol, as later confirmed by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks. Passengers on Flight 93 rushed the hijackers in the cockpit and the aircraft crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside, preventing it from reaching its intended target.

On Jan. 14, 2015,20-year-old Christopher Lee Cornellwas arrested before he could carry out a planned attack on the U.S. Capitol during the State of the Union address.According to a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent, pipe bombs were to go off, causing lawmakers and employees to flee. Cornell and an accomplice then planned to gun them down as they ran.Cornell later pleaded guilty to three federal charges and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

In October 2013, Miriam Carey, an unarmed 34-year-old from Connecticut, was fatally shot by law enforcement on U.S. Capitol grounds after she attempted to breach a White House checkpoint. Carey, who had a 1-year-old child in the backseat, led police ona 12-block chase through the city and was shotfive times from behind.

On March 28, 2016, Larry Russell Dawson, 67, of Tennessee, was shot by U.S. Capitol Policeafter he pointed a BB gun at police officersat the Capitol Visitor Center.Dawson later pleaded guilty to a federal charge of assaulting, impeding or resisting officers while using a dangerous or deadly weapon and was sentenced to 11 months in prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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US Capitol has seen violence in its 220- year history, but not like this - FOX40

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero