Pro-Trump Mob Attacks U.S. Capitol As Biden’s Victory Certified
A pro-Trump rally turned into mob violence in the nation’s capital today as Congress counted the 2020 electoral college votes and prepared to officially declare Democratic President-Elect Joesph R. Biden the next President of the United States.
The House and Senate had counted only 12 of 538 electoral votes when Vice President Mike Pence, the President of the Senate who presided over the customary Congressional procedure, was suddenly whisked away by Capitol police. Members of Congress quickly donned gas masks and escaped to safety, locking themselves in rooms as tear gas and flashbangs were deployed by law enforcement against rioters who had breached the Capitol building.
Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed through police barriers and locked areas in the U.S. Capitol building, igniting numerous skirmishes with law enforcement, including an armed standoff at the entryway of the House of Representatives chamber.
Numerous photographs and videos uploaded to social media show rioters having free rein of the historic building, including one man who sat himself at the Senate dais, where the presiding officer of the Senate is traditionally seated during proceedings. Another Trump supporter kicked his boots up on House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s desk after breaking into her office, leaving a handwritten note that stated, “WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN.”
Hours earlier outgoing President Donald Trump had rallied a crowd of thousands nearby, telling them, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol...You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” Trump has refused to concede his November election defeat to President-elect Biden, continuing to stand by his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. The president and his allies have suffered over 60 court loses over the past three months in their bid to redo the presidential election.
One unidentified woman wearing a Trump flag as a cape was shot inside the Capitol building as she moved with a crowd of fellow rioters, and later died at the hospital. It’s unclear who fired the fatal shot. Numerous members of law enforcement were also injured during the violence.
Multiple pipe bombs were found during the day throughout the Washington, D.C. area, including one found outside the Republican National Committee headquarters. All were safely blown in place by law enforcement.
National Guard members were brought in to help local officials deal with the situation. "The D.C. Guard has been mobilized to provide support to federal law enforcement in the District," stated chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman.
Santa Monica College Chief of Police Johnnie Adams empathized with the unprecedented situation local law enforcement faced on the ground, reflecting, “I think it would be hard to put myself in the shoes of the Capitol Police since I do not know what intel they had, deployment numbers and tactics.” Adams continued, “I will say the events today were a travesty and that democracy was certainly challenged. I hope that our nation can move forward with the People’s business peacefully in the coming days.”
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser instituted a 6 p.m. curfew for the area in an attempt to gain control of the situation. Hundreds of Trump supporters disregarded the order, with some continuing to stand toe-to-toe opposite law enforcement, calling them “traitors” and “sellouts” as some displayed pro-law enforcement paraphernalia.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley stated the day’s events in stark terms. “This is the siege of the U.S. Capital… Here we are watching fellow citizens break in and vandalize our U.S. Capitol, rioting in the streets of Washington, disregarding public and federal property. It’s a heinous moment,” said Brinkley on CNN. “This group of Trump supporters who refuse to accept the outcome of this election are now terrorizing the entire Washington, D.C. metro area.”
Condemnation of the mob action was quick to come from numerous current and former U.S. politicians. Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger tweeted simply, “This is a coup attempt.” Recent Attorney General William Barr, who resigned late last month, called the actions “outrageous and despicable” while stating that “federal agencies should move immediately to disperse it.”
Tom Bossert, Trump’s former homeland security adviser, laid the day’s events at the president’s feet. "This is beyond wrong and illegal. It’s un-American," Bossert tweeted. "The President undermined American democracy baselessly for months. As a result, he’s culpable for this siege, and an utter disgrace."
Many members of Congress who were forced to halt the electoral vote counting earlier in the day and hunker down amid the chaos remained defiant and resolute in the face of the day’s unprecedented events.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia put it plainly, stating, “These thugs aren’t running us off.”
Pence reopened the electoral vote counting once the Capital building was cleared of rioters by saying, “To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins. And this is still the people’s house.”
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney gave a passionate plea to fellow members of his party who have insisted upon challenging the validity of the November election, stating from the Senate floor, “Now we gather due to a selfish man’s injured pride, and the outrage of the supporters who he has deliberately misinformed for the past two months and stirred to action this very morning. What happened today was an insurrection, incited by the president of the United States. Those who continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against American democracy.”
The Utah senator continued, “For any who remain insistent on an audit for the many people who believe that the election was stolen, I’d offer this perspective: no Congressional audit is ever going to convince these voters, particularly when the president will continue to say that the election was stolen. The best way we can show respect for the voters who were upset is by telling them the truth!” The normally quiet Senate floor erupted in applause from his Democratic colleagues.
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker put the day’s events into perspective when he recalled that the only other time in American history when the U.S. Capital was laid siege to was during the War of 1812. Comparing the two events, Booker stated, “What's interesting about the parallel between the two is, they both were waving flags to a sole sovereign, to an individual, surrendering democratic principles to the cult of personality. One was a monarch in England and the other with the flags I saw all over our Capitol — including in the hallways and in this room. To a single person named Donald Trump.” The New Jersey senator concluded that, “The sad difference between these two times is, one was yet another nation in the history of our country that tried to challenge the United States of America. But this time, we brought this hell upon ourselves.”
Former President George W. Bush, the only living former Republican president, stated his dismay on what had transpired hours earlier. In a released statement he wrote, “This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic – not our democratic republic." Bush continued, "I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement...Insurrection could do grave damage to our Nation and reputation."
Former President Barack Obama also issued a statement late this afternoon, stating, “History will rightly remember today’s violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation. But we’d be kidding ourselves if we treated it as a total surprise.”
Trump’s daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump posted and subsequently deleted a tweet in which she called the rioters “American Patriots”. Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani also tweeted support for members of the mob, stating that “those patriots” will end up “on the right side of the law and history”.
Twitter removed several posts made by the president throughout the day, including a video taken during the rioting where he told his supporters, “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...We love you, you’re very special. You’ve seen what happens, you see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil.”
Illustration by Carolyn Burt | The Corsair
Trump later defended his supporters actions by tweeting, “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.” Twitter has since removed the tweet, locked the president’s account for 12 hours, and threatened permanent removal from the social media platform if future violations of their terms occur.
Facebook also removed the president’s video message to his supporters. Guy Rosen, VP of integrity at Facebook, stated on Twitter that, “This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump's video. We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”
YouTube quickly became the third major platform to remove Trump’s video message, stating through Farshad Shadloo, their Head of Policy Communications, "We removed a video posted this afternoon to Donald Trump's channel that violated our policies regarding content that alleges widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Election."
Numerous Republican members of Congress who have sided with the president in his attempt to delegitimize the presidential election had planned to object to the counting of electoral votes during today’s proceedings. These included Sens. Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Ron Johnson, James Lankford, Steve Daines, John Neely Kennedy, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Braun, Cynthia Lummis, Roger Marshall, Bill Hagerty, and Tommy Tuberville. Roughly 150 Republican members of the House had also planned to object to Congress’ certification of Biden’s November presidential election victory.
It remains to be seen whether today’s events at the Capitol will change those Republican’s position on counting the electoral votes previously certified by the states. Congress resumed session shortly after 8 p.m. EST.
