Violent pro-Trump mob invades US Capitol building during debate
A violent insurgent mob, loyal to US President Trump, stormed the US Capitol building late Wednesday, Washington DC time, forcing House and Senate members to scramble into safe spaces within secret locations in the building. It was an astonishing bit to overturn America’s presidential election and circumventing the US democratic process.
Elected representatives crouched under desks, even putting on supplied gas marks, while security forces, completely overwhelmed, tried their best to secure the building and remove the unruly mob. One woman was shot inside the Capitol… she died after being rushed to hospital. Washington’s mayor issued a stern warning and instituted an evening curfew that started at 6pm in an attempt to contain the violence.
The rioters were egged on by the President earlier in the day at a more peaceful gathering. After weeks of falsely attacking the integrity of the Presidential election and peddling unsubstantiated claims about election fraud, he urged his supporters to “march to the hill” to protest the formal approval of the Electoral College vote for Joe Biden’s victory in the November 3 election. The debate in the House had not even finished casting the very first state’s vote , Arizona, when the proceedings were abruptly halted by the mob.
Early in the afternoon the protesters stormed through flimsy metal barriers and made their way up the steps of the west side of the building. They would repeat this on the east side later. They then forced their way through the doors and Ito the hallways of the Capitol building, and eventually made their way into the floor and gallery of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. They also made themselves comfortable, and allowed shocked staffers to take photos of them, lounging in offices and even the seat of the House speaker.
The efforts to block President-elect Biden from being sworn in on January 20 – today was the final day that objections could be formally raised – were sure to fail. Both the President’s egging on of the protesters and the actions of the invading mob sorely tested the security of the Capitol and the nation’s democratic guardrails.
But the members of the two houses were determined to reconvene, and they did, in the Senate at 8pm and later in the House.
Twitter for the first time time locked President’s Trump’s account demanding he remove Tweets excusing violence and continuing to peddle his false claims about the election. They also threatened “permanent suspension” of his Twitter account.
Facebook removed one of the President’s posts but fell short of blocking his account.
The President eventually capitulated to demands for him to short-circuit the situation with a 2 minute spontaneous speech outside the White House that both poured cold water on the situation whilst fanning the flames.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcfcTB9-S2s&feature=emb_logo
Former US President George W. Bush released a statement condemning the storming of the US Capitol building this afternoon, describing it as “sickening” and “heartbreaking”.
President Trump’s initial homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, just one of many former officials, has condemned the response to the mob chaos.
“This is beyond wrong and illegal. It’s un-American. The President undermined American democracy baselessly for months. As a result, he’s culpable for this siege, and an utter disgrace.”
Huffington Post’s Igor Bobic photographed one of the mobsters sitting in the House chair.
President Elect Joe Biden made a live appearance around 4.30pm Washington time, calling on the President to “step up”, saying the incident was a “dark moment in the nation’s history.”
“At this hour, our democracy is under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times. Let me be very clear, the scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect the true America. This is not dissent, its disorder, it’s chaos and it borders on sedition and it must end now.”
President Trump later defended the actions of the unruly mob who stormed and vandalised the US Capitol.
“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away.”
More of the story and photos HERE.
