A day that began with thousands of President Trump’s supporters in Washington for demonstrations turned violent as many in attendance saw Wednesday as a last stand for Trump because Congress was set to confirm that President-elect Joe Biden won the election.
Trump — who lost the popular and electoral college vote — continues to dispute the election results, without evidence, and has encouraged his supporters to attend the rallies. He took the stage about noon to roaring crowds, falsely claiming he had won the election.
Later at the U.S. Capitol, throngs of people pushed past police who were trying to block them from entering the building as lawmakers inside debated counting electoral college votes confirming Biden’s victory. A mob was able to breach security and successfully enter the building, where one person was shot and later died.
- The Senate stopped its proceedings, with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) interrupted by an aide who said protesters were in the building. The House doors also were closed. In a notification, U.S. Capitol Police said no entry or exit is permitted in the buildings within the Capitol Complex. “Stay away from exterior windows, doors. If outside, seek cover,” police said.
- A woman was fatally shot inside the U.S. Capitol after the mob breached the building. The circumstances were not clear.
- The entire D.C. National Guard was activated. The rapid expansion of military involvement came after D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) requested that guards members already on duty be sent to the Capitol, said a defense official and a District official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
- In a televised speech, Biden condemned Trump for stoking the violence. “I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward,” he said.
- Bowser imposed a citywide curfew as a chaotic scene worsened at the U.S. Capitol building. From 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday, Bowser said no one other than essential personnel would be allowed outdoors in the city.
As pro-Trump protesters began to wander away from the Capitol, some showed up at Black Lives Matter Plaza, where a brawl erupted with anti-Trump protesters involving pepper spray and at least one Taser.
The scuffle near the plaza started about 5:30 p.m. and involved about two dozen people. After the fight played out for several minutes, including on local live television, D.C. police officers on bikes broke up the fighting. Protesters on both sides threw punches and pepper-sprayed each other, and an anti-Trump fighter could be seen using a Taser.
When D.C. officers arrived, they tackled brawlers and no injuries or arrests were immediately seen.
Republican leaders in Virginia and Maryland issued sharp condemnations of the riot that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday, in some cases blaming Trump for the violence.
“It is a riot masquerading as a protest,” said Virginia Del. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), the House minority leader, who noted that thousands of gun-rights advocates protested peacefully at the State Capitol in Richmond last January.
Others echoed that sentiment, though one Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates attacked Vice President Pence for not acting to help overturn the election results. Earlier in the day, ahead of starting to preside over the confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s win, Pence had rejected Trump’s view that he could unilaterally reject electoral college votes from states lost by Trump.
“Pence is a traitor,” tweeted Del. Dan Cox (R-Frederick), a staunch Trump supporter.
Others directed their outrage at the rioters who pushed past police to breach the Capitol building.
“We are a nation of laws,” Gilbert said in a written statement. “Courts, legislatures, and votes determine the shape of our nation, not mobs who cause destruction and attack law enforcement.” He called on those in the Capitol to leave immediately for and those who refuse to be arrested and prosecuted.
Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), a former Virginia House speaker who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, called on Trump to intervene.
“I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the violent rioting and destruction happening in Washington D.C. These events are in no way justified or excusable,” Cox said in an email. “The President needs to call on his supporters to leave the Capitol immediately.”
In Maryland, Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford (R) went further. He said Trump incited the violence and described it as an “impeachable offense.”
If these were people of color they would be in jail or dead. Trump’s followers went into the capitol to stop the vote confirmation and Trump is still claiming he won big, no he lost big the USA wants love not hate. We can see from Trump’s followers what happens when they believe his lies. We are seeing the first 350000 American dead from COVID and counting. A women was shot and killed in the Capitol. Democratic supporters trying to protect BLM got killed in the streets by militia groups. This does not seem real. Being black in America it is real for you. If you support Trump this is on your head. You believe in conspiracy and this mess is out of control
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This is what cause the riot and take over.
This is how they treat white people and black other minority. White people are treated differently.
