WASHINGTON — Hundreds of supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, aggressively breaching the legislative chambers in an effort to derail the joint congressional session where the 2020 election results were to be formally certified.
Capitol office buildings were evacuated, members of Congress sheltered in place, and the Capitol went on lockdown as Trump-supporting extremists clashed with law enforcement officials protecting the seat of the United States government.
At least one person was fatally shot, though the circumstances of the shooting are unclear.
Over the course of a chaotic and at times surreal afternoon, protesters made their way through barricades, scaled walls, broke windows and entered legislators’ empty personal offices, many of them yelling about the false conspiracy theory that Trump rightfully won the 2020 election. The president had held a rally on the National Mall earlier that day, where he repeated to a crowd of supporters the lie that President-elect Joe Biden stole his victory in November.
Many politicians, members of the press and international leaders reacted with horror and incredulity to images from the Capitol. Trump eventually ordered the National Guard to the scene, and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a curfew to start at 6 p.m. and end at 6 a.m. Thursday.
In a video message posted to Twitter late in the afternoon, Trump urged the protesters to “go home in peace,” though he again repeated the lie that the election was stolen. “We love you,” the president told the rioters in the video. “You’re very special.”
There were reports of multiple injuries at the Capitol, though details were scarce. Police confirmed one woman had been shot, but the circumstances of the shooting weren’t immediately clear. D.C. police later confirmed to HuffPost that the woman had died.
Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who took over the Justice Department after former Attorney General William Barr’s resignation, said DOJ sent “hundreds of federal law enforcement officers and agents from the FBI, ATF, and the U.S. Marshals Service” to assist the Capitol police. He said the “laws of our land” would be enforced.
“The violence at our Nation’s Capitol building is an intolerable attack on a fundamental institution of our democracy,” Rosen said Wednesday evening.
Vice President Mike Pence was quickly brought off the floor when the rioters first made their way into the Capitol. Trump supporters set off a fire extinguisher just off the floor of the Senate.
The crowd, sporting a mix of Make America Great Again gear and Confederate flags, charged up the Capitol steps and rushed at police, as multiple videos from the scene show. They ripped down fencing and swore at members of law enforcement whom they mocked as “traitors.” Police fired pepper spray at the crowd, and later deployed flash-bang devices to get them to disperse.
“I’m sheltering in place in my office,” Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) tweeted. “The building next door has been evacuated. I can’t believe I have to write this.”
“This is a coup attempt,” tweeted Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.).
The rioters roamed the halls searching for legislators, screaming, “Where the fuck are they?”
The rioters also made it into the Senate chamber itself. One person stood at the dais and screamed, “Trump won that election!”
Multiple rioters posted photos or videos of themselves inside legislative offices. One man entered the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and took a seat at what NBC10 Boston’s Nia Hamm identified as the desk of Pelosi’s assistant.
As the House chamber was evacuated, HuffPost witnessed Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) instruct fellow lawmakers on how to use a gas mask.
The rioters eventually started banging on the main entrance of the House chamber. Cops barricaded the door with a bench, but the rioters continued banging on the door until the glass shattered. Someone then yelled “Gun!” and cops drew their firearms, aiming them at the door.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) tried to reason with with the insurrectionists, putting his safety at direct risk. About 10 minutes later, police removed everyone from the chamber and took them to a secure location. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) didn’t leave the chamber until everyone else was out.
Pro-Trump, Attack
