I think the majority of the people who went into the capitol were there on a lark. They really didn't have a purpose beforehand. They were there shouting in front of barricades, maybe some were pushing and struggling. But I've seen the video of the guards taking away a barricade, and I've read a state representative who said he just calmly walked through an open double door and went to the rotunda. But there seemed to be a few who were going to try to do something, though I haven't heard anything at all about what that might have been. But after looking at photos that are available on the internet, the photos of the people who ended up banging on doors and breaking windows seemed to be very few in number. The published photos give you the idea that it's a huge mob. But when you look at the actual size photos, many of which are full size pictures from digital cameras, you can see that what looks like a full room of angry people is really about 2-3 rows of angry-looking people interspersed about 60/40 with guards in riot gear. And all the people you can see behind them are other cops and guards standing along the back wall of the room. There's nobody between those front rows and the back of the room, but at a glance on a phone or the size they show the photo on a news page it looks like a huge mob.
I also get the impression that the police who basically walked into the building with these people weren't really trying to stop them, and perhaps didn't think they were much of a threat. Even in the video of the woman who was shot, the police in the hallway with the people weren't really acting as if their lives were threatened as they moved about through the crowd. However the guard who shot the woman was hiding in a side doorway, as were several others, and seemed to think this was their dying moment.
Were there people in Washington who were intent on mayhem? Probably yes, if you believe they made the social media posts attributed to them beforehand. And if the various pipe bombs reported to have been left around at the DNC, RNC, and other places were really placed by people and not government agents as a ruse, then obviously yes. But I believe the majority of those who went in the capitol had no idea what they were going to do when they got in there. That's why they did stupid things like have their picture taken sitting at Pelosi's desk or carry a podium around. How could that be a major insurrection? What would it even do if they managed to do as much as kill a legislator? Our form of government is supposed to spread the reins around enough that it can survive those kinds of things. Oh, sure, the media talking heads would be apoplectic to get more ratings.
In reality the most they could have accomplished would have been to be a noisy disruption, perhaps chanting "Decertify" in the hallways or having a sit-in in the Rotunda or something. But I don't think they were even organized enough for that, and frankly even the guy who took his picture in Pelosi's office seemed to have come to his senses immediately afterward when he posted that he would likely need a really good lawyer. It was all a useless action and the noise about it now is even less useful. And the legislators and others calling it the worst blow to democracy ever and a major insurrection and all that are even more useless. If they think our republic is that fragile, it can only be because they know they have done something to make it that fragile. When they talk about how the capitol is the people's building, and it was "desecrated", exactly who do they think the people are? Those who were roaming the halls were the people, just like the ones looting and burning and killing all year are the people. Those who stayed outside are the people. Those who were at home are the people. Besides, there is nothing holy about the capitol building. Destroying it would not destroy our country. Representatives can meet anywhere. And that's what they are. The people's representatives, though it seems that once they are ensconced in power they forget about all that.