The US Capitol is once again secured but a woman is dead after supporters of President Donald Trump breached one of the most iconic American buildings, engulfing the nation’s capital in chaos after Trump urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that will confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
Shortly after 1 p.m. ET Wednesday hundreds of pro-Trump protesters pushed through barriers set up
along the perimeter of the Capitol, where they tussled with officers in full riot gear, some calling the
officers “traitors” for doing their jobs. About 90 minutes later, police said demonstrators got into the
building and the doors to the House and Senate were being locked. Shortly after, the House floor was
evacuated by police. Vice President Mike Pence was also evacuated, where he was to perform his role
in the counting of electoral votes.
Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
An armed standoff took place at the House front door as of 3 p.m. ET, and police officers had their guns
drawn at someone who was trying to breach it. A Trump supporter was also pictured standing at the
Senate dais earlier in the afternoon.
A woman is dead after being shot in the chest on the Capitol grounds, DC police confirmed to CNN.
More information on the shooting was not immediately available and a police spokesperson said
additional details will come later.
Multiple officers have been injured with at least one transported to the hospital, multiple sources tell
CNN.
Smoke grenades were used on the Senate side of the Capitol, as police work to clear the building of
rioters. Windows on the west side of the Senate have been broken, and hundreds of officers are
amassing on the first floor of the building.
People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Senate floor was cleared of rioters as of 3:30 p.m. ET, and an officer told CNN that they have
successfully squeezed them away from the Senate wing of the building and towards the Rotunda, and
they are removing them out of the East and West doors of the Capitol. It’s not clear if any of the
individuals have been taken into custody.
The US Capitol Police worked to secure the second floor of the Capitol first, and were seen just before 5
p.m. pushing demonstrators off the steps on the east side of the building. With about 30 minutes to go
before Washington, DC’s 6 p.m. ET curfew, Washington police amassed in a long line to push the mob
back from the Capitol grounds.
It took until roughly 5:40 p.m. ET for the building to once again be secured, according to the sergeant-at-
arms.
The stunning display of insurrection was the first time the US Capitol had been overrun since the British
attacked and burned the building in August of 1814, during the War of 1812, according to Samuel
Holliday, director of scholarship and operations with the US Capitol Historical Society.
The shocking scene was met with less police force than many of the Black Lives Matter protests that
rolled across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police officers
last year. While federal police attacked peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square outside the White House
over the summer, clearing the way for Trump to take a photo in front of a nearby church at the time,
protesters on Wednesday were able to overrun Capitol police and infiltrate the country’s legislative
chambers.
An afternoon of chaos
The protesters first breached exterior security barriers, and video footage showed protesters gathering
and some clashing with police near the Capitol building. CNN’s team on the ground saw a number of
protesters trying to move up the side of the Capitol building. Several loud flash bangs were heard as
well.
Protesters could be seen pushing against metal fences and police using the fences to push protesters
back, while other officers reached over the top to club people trying to cross their lines.
Flash bangs could be heard near the steps of the Capitol as smoke filled the air. In some instances
officers could be seen deploying pepper spray. Tear gas was deployed, but it’s not clear whether by
protesters or police, and people wiped tears from their eyes while coughing.
After the building was breached, the Capitol police officer in the House chamber told lawmakers that
they may need to duck under their chairs and informed lawmakers that protesters were in the building’s
Rotunda. Lots of House members were seen wearing gas masks as they move between
Capitol buildings. Members were calling family to say they are OK.
Congressional leaders were being evacuated from the Capitol complex just before 5 p.m. ET and were
set to be taken to Fort McNair, a nearby Army base in Washington, according to a federal law
enforcement official.
Trump has directed the National Guard to Washington along with “other federal protective services,”
according to White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. The entire DC National Guard has been
activated by the Department of Defense, according to the Pentagon.
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“The D.C. Guard has been mobilized to provide support to federal law enforcement in the District,” said
Jonathan Hoffman, the chief Pentagon spokesman. “Acting Secretary Miller has been in contact with
Congressional leadership, and Secretary McCarthy has been working with the D.C. government. The
law enforcement response will be led by the Department of Justice.”
The official said DC National Guard was not anticipating to be used to protect federal facilities, and the
Trump administration had decided earlier this week that would be the task of civilian law enforcement,
the official said.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a citywide curfew from 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday until 6
a.m. ET Thursday.
Lawmakers return to the Capitol
Lawmakers began returning to the Capitol after the building was secured and made it clear that they
intended to resume their intended business — namely, confirming Biden’s win over Trump by counting
the votes in the Electoral College.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that congressional leadership has decided to continue
with the joint session Wednesday night.
“Today, a shameful assault was made on our democracy. It was anointed at the highest level of
government. It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden,”
Pelosi wrote.
“To that end, in consultation with Leader Hoyer and Whip Clyburn and after calls to the Pentagon, the
Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol
once it is cleared for use. Leader Hoyer will be sending out more guidance later today.”
Republican and Democratic congressional leaders told their members to be ready to return to debating
the electoral votes once the House sergeant-at-arms said it was OK to do so. The exact timing was not
clear Wednesday evening.
Republicans who planned to object to multiple states the Biden won were strategizing among
themselves while the Capitol was locked down, and it’s not clear if they will draw out the process as
originally planned.
One Senate aide said an agreement is not yet finalized to expedite the proceedings but they are still
working on it. Sources say the effort is to find a way for the objectors to be able to use the Arizona
objection, which was made before the mob stormed the building, as the vehicle for anything the Senate
GOP objectors want to say, take the vote on that objection — which will fail — and then move forward
quickly with the rest of the process without more objections, per two sources
Trump tells supporters to go home, eventually
Trump finally called on his supporters to “go home” hours after the riot started, but spent a large amount
of time in the one-minute video lamenting and lying about his election loss.
In one stunning line, Trump told the mob to “go home,” but added, “We love you. You are very special.”
Trump struck a sympathetic tone to the rioters he himself unleashed saying, “I know your pain, I know
you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows
it. Especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace.”
However, later on in the evening Trump justified the mob’s actions and praised them.
“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so
unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated
for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!” he said, in a tweet that was
later deleted by Twitter.
Others inside the President’s orbit tweeted their calls for calm as the mob repeatedly attempted to take
over the building.
Donald Trump Jr., the President’s son, said that his supporters who mobbed the Capitol were “wrong
and not who we are.”
“Be peaceful and use your 1st Amendment rights, but don’t start acting like the other side. We have a
country to save and this doesn’t help anyone,” he tweeted.
Multiple bombs detonated safely
Federal and local law enforcement responded to reports of possible pipe bombs in multiple locations in
Washington, DC, according to a federal law enforcement official. It’s unclear if the devices are real or a
hoax, but they’re being treated as real.
A pipe bomb was found at the Republican National Committee’s headquarters earlier Wednesday, an
RNC official told CNN. The device was found on the ground outside, along the wall of the headquarters.
It was safely detonated by the police, the RNC official said.
At least two suspected pipe bombs have been rendered safe by law enforcement, including the one at
the building that houses RNC offices and one in the US Capitol complex, a federal law enforcement
official told CNN. The official said these were real explosive devices and they were detonated safely.
The Democratic National Committee was also evacuated after a suspicious package was being
investigated nearby, a Democratic source familiar with the matter told CNN. The party had preemptively
closed the building ahead of the protests, the source said, but a few security and essential personnel
were evacuated. ( CNN / IM )
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