Marine veteran Rep. Ruben Gallego sheltered journalists as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol

• Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat and a Marine Corps veteran, reportedly shielded members of the media in his office on Wednesday as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
• Politico reporter Olivia Beavers recalled the support Gallego provided in a post Thursday, where she wrote: "We are all very grateful for your help, congressman."
• In an interview following the incident Wednesday afternoon, Gallego condemned the assault on the Capitol, a move which was aimed at disrupting the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory, as "treasonous."

Rep. Ruben Gallego shielded members of the media in his office as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Wednesday to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a Politico reporter.

As the Capitol locked down, some reporters were rushed into the House gallery, which was barricaded behind them, Olivia Beavers, a reporter who covers Congress for Politico, recalled in a post Thursday.

While inside the gallery, members of Congress were instructed to put on escape hoods that also serve as gas masks. Matt Fuller, a Huffington Post reporter who also covers Congress, reported that Gallego, the Democratic congressman from Arizona and a Marine Corps veteran, helped people with their masks.

"Some of us with a little more knowledge with tear gas and masks and were helping out other members," Gallego recalled during an interview on the Mehdi Hasan show Wednesday evening. "Eventually, we had to evacuate," he added.

Beavers wrote Thursday that as the evacuation was underway, she and others were under the impression that reporters were being sent to a safe room, but when they arrived, a guard said, "No press."

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, urged the guard to let them in but was unsuccessful.

"As we stood confused and trying to figure what to do next in an open hallway," Beavers wrote, "Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) offered us his office, where I went with five other reporters until we got the all clear hours later."

"We are all very grateful for your help, congressman," she added.

NBC News' Haley Talbot was reportedly with Beavers at the time and characterized her account of the events as "spot-on." Gallego's office also confirmed to Insider that this occurred.

Gallego joined the Marines after college and deployed to Iraq as an infantryman with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment in 2005, according to his official biography. The 3/25 saw intense fighting during his deployment and suffered serious casualties. His company alone saw the loss of 22 Marines and a Navy corpsman.

The storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters on Wednesday came as congressional leaders were meeting to count and certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory over incumbent President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Prior to the march on the Capitol, the president told a large crowd of his supporters that the election was fraudulent, repeating a number of falsehoods about the election, and told them they should "never concede." He also repeated his assertion that the media is the "enemy of the people."

After a period of silence as his supporters stormed the Capitol, Trump eventually called for peace and instructed his supporters to go home.

In the interview he did Wednesday evening, Gallego condemned those who assaulted the Capitol as "terrorists" and "treasonous bastards" who "could not stand the fact that we had a free and fair election and could not stand the fact that their candidate lost."

He condemned Republican congressional leaders who rejected the results of the election and encouraged anyone working for them or the Trump administration to resign.

"They nearly destroyed a beautiful democracy for no goddamn reason, just to save their political, worthless souls. That's what they did," Gallego said.

Congress eventually reconvened to certify the Electoral College vote after the Capitol was secured and the turmoil of Wednesday afternoon had largely subsided.

"When I joined the Marine Corps, the most sacred part of my oath was to protect the Constitution of the United States. I never thought that I would have to do that on the floor of Congress," Gallego said once the process had restarted.

"But, here we are. The people have spoken, and the power of the people, the Constitution, will be preserved," he continued.

"I left my youth, I left my sanity, I left it all in Iraq for this country because their was this one precious idea that we all had."

And, that one idea, he said, was that "this country was going to protect everyone's individual rights, that you were going to be able to vote, that you were going to be able to preserve democracy and pass it on as a legacy and an inheritance to every American."

Congress voted to confirm Biden's win early Thursday morning.