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Trump supporters storm US Capitol, 4 dead, 52 arrested: In photos
Trump, who has refused to concede his loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, had urged his supporters multiple times to come to Washington for a rally on the day the US House of Representatives and Senate were scheduled to certify the results of the Electoral College.
US President Donald Trump’s supporters violently forced their way inside the US Capitol, where lawmakers were meeting to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the November 3 elections.
Trump, who has refused to concede his loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, had urged his supporters multiple times to come to Washington for a rally on the day the US House of Representatives and Senate were scheduled to certify the results of the Electoral College.
US President-elect Joe Biden called the scenes at the US Capitol ‘chaotic’ and said they “do not represent who we are”.
“Let me be very clear: the scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not represent who we are. What we are seeing is a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent, it’s disorder. It borders on sedition, and it must end. Now,” Biden said on Twitter.
The violence, that forced lawmakers to flee the US Capitol, resulted in the death of four people. Among them was a woman who was shot by police. Three others lost their lives to medical emergencies, police of Washington DC said.
“Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election,” Trump had tweeted on December 20. “Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” he had said. After his supporters displayed violence at the US Capitol, he tweeted, “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly unfairly treated for so long.” This message was later deleted by Twitter. He added, “Go home with love in peace. Remember this day forever!”
Democrats and some Republicans blamed Trump for inciting the violence on Wednesday. His failure to rein in his supporters stood in sharp contrast to his attitude at the time he threatened arrests to break up protests against racial inequality last year.
The mayor of Washington, DC, Muriel Bowser, ordered a curfew in the nation’s capital beginning at 6pm Wednesday and later in the day, extended it for 15 days.
Lawmakers resumed business after officials said the Capitol premises were safe, hours after the attack. They formally certified the electoral victory of Biden as the next US President and Kamala Harris as the Vice President in the November 3 election.
