With News Wires — President Trump supporters overpowered police and breached the US Capitol on Wednesday, leading to an armed standoff at the House of Representatives’ chambers, forcing the building into lockdown and disrupting the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
A showdown involving police and protesters with guns drawn took place outside the body’s quarters, according to pool reporters, who did not immediately note any injuries or shots fired.
One reporter tweeted that a protester made it all the way to the dais, and declared: “Trump won that election.”
Hordes of President Trump’s supporters breached the US Capitol on Wednesday, overpowering police, forcing the building into lockdown and disrupting the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
Thousands of protesters had previously broken through a fence and stormed the building, according to reporters on the ground.
Dozens of protesters pushed past police made it inside the building, photos posted on social-media show and video shot by a Post reporter show.
Some carried American, others the Confederate stars and bars.
Several protesters made it onto the building’s balcony, where at least one Gadsden flag was draped.
The certification process was interrupted, with lawmakers told to take shelter.
Among those in the Senate chamber was Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump has fiercely criticized for what he perceives as a lack of effort to stop the election certification process.
Scenes that we never thought we'd ever see in America, as Republicans 'Law and Order' Trump supporters storm the US Capitol in protest of Trump defeat to Joe Biden
Compare the police reaction and response during the Black Lives Matter protests to these images
No National Guard? pic.twitter.com/MdhB7Ou6dA
— Maiestas Ⓜ️ (@Ebenezer_Peegah) January 6, 2021
It was not immediately clear if the vice president had been evacuated from the building.
At least one congressional office building was evacuated earlier in the day.
After the protesters had already been in the building for some time, Trump tweeted his support for law-enforcement.
“Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement,” he wrote.
“They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”
With police on the Capitol grounds overpowered, reinforcements were called in from across the city, as the boom of flashbangs resounded throughout America’s capital.
Meanwhile, Washington Post reporter Rebecca Tan tweeted an 11-second video clip of the throngs streaming toward the building, with some stomping over a flimsy fence marked with an “Area Closed”
“Hundreds of Trump supporters have stormed the barricades at the back of the Capitol and are marching toward the building,” wrote Tan.
In a follow-up tweet, Tan said that some attempted to push inside the building, but were rebuffed by police.
“Protesters are charging toward the Captiol [sic] steps. Some tried to scale the construction structures and have been tackled by police,” Tan wrote. “They want to enter the building and are making attempts at intervals. Capitol police trying to hold them back.”
Other journalists on the ground also tweeted footage of the wild scene.
Thousands of supporters of the president had descended on Washington for a raucous Wednesday rally, as Congress moved to finalize the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Trump himself delivered a fiery speech in the hour leading up to the joint session of Congress, in which he repeated his claim that the election was rigged against him, without providing hard evidence to support the allegation.
