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Brutal scenes at the heart of American democracy: Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent confirmation of Democrat Biden’s election victory. A woman died in the process. Hours later, the police cleared the building; the meeting continues.
After several hours of violent occupation by supporters of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, the Capitol in Washington, the seat of both houses of parliament, is safe again. The police announced, to the applause of the deputies, that they persevered in a closed room. Heavily armed police officers had previously cleared the building. They also used stun grenades and tear gas.
Chaotic scenes had occurred on Capitol Hill after numerous Trump supporters entered the building. In reality, both houses of parliament wanted to confirm the result of the November presidential election and the victory of Democrat Joe Biden, a purely formal act. Instead, MPs and their employees had to be rescued from angry Trump supporters. Television footage showed rioters smashing windows, looting parliamentary offices and posing in the vacant Senate Chamber. For hours, parts of the building were in the hands of the mob.
Woman succumbs to gunshot wounds
A woman who suffered a gunshot wound while storming Congress died hours later. That’s what the police said. Initially, the background was unclear. The capital’s police launched an investigation, according to their boss Robert Contee. Video footage apparently showed a protester lying in a hallway inside the Capitol, bleeding after they shot themselves. However, the authenticity of the recordings was not initially confirmed.
Curfew in Washington
Outside the Capitol there were several hundred Trump supporters at night (local time) who do not want to recognize the electoral victory of Democrat Joe Biden. However, apparently the police officers are pushing them out of the building. Journalists on the site report an extremely aggressive mood. The curfew has been in effect in Washington since 6 p.m. local time, and neighboring states have dispatched the national guard and state police to the capital.
According to the police, several weapons were seized. According to media reports, the FBI also deactivated at least two explosive devices.
Trump incites protesters
The protests intensified after US President Donald Trump asked his supporters to protest against the confirmation of the election result by Congress. Trump also repeated his unproven accusation that he had been swindled into the election victory.
Trump was not particularly impressed by the events. “These are things and events that happen,” Trump tweeted, again speaking of the fact that his “holy crushing victory was so sudden and petty” stolen. The victims are the “great patriots” who have long been wronged, he wrote, apparently with a view to his followers. Earlier, Trump had asked people on Capitol Hill, also via Twitter, to moderate. “Keep in peace!” He wrote, asking them to support the police and security forces.
Following the riots, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube used an unusually harsh procedure to remove Trump’s posts in which he again spread his unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud. Twitter even blocked the president’s account for the next twelve hours. In the event of further violations of the short message service rules, the account could be completely locked out, the company said.
Continue the session
After the police declared the congressional building safe, the Senate resumed its session. The House of Representatives also wanted to meet again that night. The important documents with the voting results of the electorate in the individual states of the United States had been obtained by employees of the Senate. The documents are the basis for the appointment of future President Biden.
“The good news is that one of the staff members was very, very resourceful and capable of picking up the ballot boxes and putting them to safety,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth told CBS News. “So we have them with us and we can continue.” Senator Jeff Merkley posted a photo of wooden boxes on Twitter and wrote that if the employees hadn’t taken the ballots, “the mob would have burned them.”
Pence opposes Trump’s lawsuit
The meeting will be chaired by Trump’s deputy, Vice President Mike Pence. Even before the meeting, he had made it clear that he did not want to block this confirmation of Democrat Biden’s victory. His oath to protect the constitution prevents him from deciding “unilaterally” on “which votes should be counted and which should not.”
Pence opposed Trump’s demands. In recent days, pressure had mounted on his deputy to overturn Biden’s election victory. Pence should outlaw multiple voters and replace them with those who vote for him, according to Trump. He had claimed that the vice president had the power to “fraudulently” reject voters.
