The country’s elected representatives scrambled to bend under the desks and put on gas masks, while police tried in vain to block the building, one of the most terrifying scenes that ever unfolded in a seat of American political power. A woman has been shot dead in the Capitol, and the mayor of Washington has instituted a curfew in an effort to curb the violence.
The rioters were stunned by Trump, who for weeks falsely attacked the integrity of the election and urged his supporters to come to Washington to protest Congress’ formal approval of Biden’s victory. Some Republican lawmakers were amid objections to the results on his behalf when the proceedings were abruptly stopped by the mob.
Together, the protests and the GOP election objections amounted to an almost unimaginable challenge to American democracy and exposed the depth of the divisions waged through the country during Trump’s four years. Although the attempts to make Biden swear on January 20 would surely fail, the support Trump received for his attempts to overthrow the election results severely hampered the country’s democratic reins.
WATCH: Full coverage of the chaos at the Capitol
Congress reconvened that evening, and lawmakers rejected the protests that disgraced the Capitol and promised to confirm the votes of the Electoral College for the election of Biden, even if it lasted all night.
Before dawn on Thursday, lawmakers had completed their work, confirming that Biden had won the presidential election.
Vice President Mike Pence, chairman of the joint sitting, announced the score 306-232.
Trump, who steadfastly refused to concede the election, said in a statement immediately after the vote that there would be an orderly transition of power on the day of the inauguration.
“Although I completely disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts confirm me, there will be an orderly transition on January 20,” Trump said in a statement posted on Twitter by an assistant.
SEE ALSO: Twitter shuts down Trump account after tweets about DC protesters were removed
Pence reopened the Senate after the disturbing day and addressed the protesters directly: “You did not win.”
WATCH: Vice President Pence addresses Congress as resumption of Electoral College certification
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the “failed uprising” underscored the legislators’ duty to complete the count. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would show the world “what America is made of” with the result.
WATCH: Mitch McConnell breaks down from Trump in blasphemous speech
The president gave his supporters a boost on Wednesday morning during a rally outside the White House, urging them to march to the Capitol. He spent much of the afternoon in his private dining room outside the Oval Office watching scenes of the violence on television. At the urging of his staff, he reluctantly released a few tweets and a recorded video in which he told his supporters that it was time to ‘go home in peace’ – yet he said he supported their cause.
Hours later, Twitter closed Trump’s account for the first time, demanding that he remove tweets that apologized for violence and threatened “permanent suspension.”
A somberly-elected President Biden, two weeks away from the inauguration, said American democracy was “under unprecedented attack”, a sentiment reflected by many in Congress, including some Republicans. Former President George W. Bush has said he has watched the events in “disbelief and dismay”.
WATCH: Joe Biden calls on the Capitol gang to ‘retreat’, urges to restore decency
The domed Capitol building has been the scene of protests and occasional violence for centuries. But Wednesday’s events were particularly astonishing, both because it unfolded at least initially with the implicit blessing of the president and because of the underlying goal of overthrowing the results of a free and fair presidential election.
Tensions were already running high when lawmakers gathered early Wednesday afternoon for the constitutional count of the election college results, in which Biden defeated Trump, 306-232. Despite McConnell’s pleas, more than 150 GOP lawmakers have planned to support objections to some of the results, although they have no evidence of fraud or misconduct in the election.
Trump spent the run-up to the proceedings to publicly use Pence, who had a largely ceremonial role, to help drive the results. He tweeted, “Do it Mike, it’s a time for extreme courage!”
But Pence had defied Trump in a statement shortly before, saying he could not demand “unilateral authority” to reject the election votes that make Biden president.
SEE ALSO: Rioter enters Nancy Pelosi’s office, takes photos with feet on her desk
In the wake of that, several Republicans announced they would drop their objections to the election, including Senator Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., Who lost her bid for re-election on Tuesday.
Earlier, protesters fought past police and trampled on the building, shouting and waving Trump and American flags as they marched through the halls, many without masks during the COVID-19 crisis. Lawmakers were told to cover under their seats and put on gas masks after tear gas was used in the Capitol Rotunda. Some House lawmakers tweeted that they were hiding in their offices.
Rep. Scott Peters, D-California, told reporters he was in the living room when rioters started storming it. Security officers “let us all down, you could see they were repelling some kind of assault.”
He said they had a piece of furniture against the door. “And guns were drawn at them,” Peters said. Glass panes to a house door were smashed.
The woman who was killed was part of a crowd that broke down the doors to a barricaded room where armed officers stood on the other side, police said. She was shot in the chest by Capitol police and taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. City police said three other people died as a result of medical emergencies during the long protest march on and around the Capitol site.
Staff members grabbed boxes with votes from the Electoral College when the evacuation took place. Otherwise, says Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., The ballots would probably have been destroyed by the protesters.
SEE ALSO: Electoral College ballot papers rescued as protesters storm the U.S. Capitol
The storm of Congress mob caused outrage, mostly from Democrats, but also from Republicans, because lawmakers accused Trump of inciting violence with his relentless falsehoods about election fraud.
“Count me out,” Trump ally Lindsey Graham, RS.C. “Enough is enough.”
Several have suggested that Trump be prosecuted or even removed for a crime under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which seemed unlikely two weeks after his term expired.
“I think Donald Trump should probably be followed up with treason for something like that,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-California, told reporters. “This is how a coup begins. And this is how democracy dies.”
Images from January 6, 2021
Senator Ben Sasse, R-Neb., Who sometimes clashed with Trump, issued a statement saying, “Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly consequence of the president’s addiction to constantly fuel divisions.”
SEE ALSO: US lawmakers respond to DC protests that shut down the Capitol
Despite Trump’s repeated allegations of voter fraud, election officials and his own former attorney general said there were no issues on the scale that would change the outcome. All states have confirmed their results as fair and accurate by Republican and Democratic officials.
Both the House and the Senate flatly rejected their intentions, objecting to the Arizona election results raised by Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Representative Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., And another from Pennsylvania. by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rep Scott Perry, R-Pa. Yet most House Republics supported the objections. Other objections to the results from Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin foiled.
The Pentagon said about 1,100 members of Columbia District’s National Guard are being mobilized to support law enforcement at the Capitol. More than a dozen people were arrested.
As darkness fell, law enforcement officers worked toward the protesters, using percussion grenades to clear the area around the Capitol. Large clouds of tear gas were visible. Police in full riot equipment moved down the stairs and clashed with protesters.
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Associated Press authors Jill Colvin, Kevin Freking, Alan Fram, Matthew Daly, Ben Fox and Ashraf Khalil in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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