Four people were killed when supporters of US President Donald Trump breached the Capitol building in Washington DC late on January 6 in an attempt to stop the US Congress from ratifying the Electoral College vote that would officially confirm Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump. Trump supporters created chaos that resulted in rioting and violence, forcing world leaders to condemn the ugly scenes.
The Capitol building houses the US Congress and is the seat of the legislative branch of the US government.
Around 4.15 am (Indian Standard Time), US officials said they successfully secured the Capitol building following a four-hour confrontation with pro-Trump rioters. The Capitol Police is now in the process of dispersing Trump supporters from the site, officials added.
Despite the presence of officers in full riot gear, dozens of Trump supporters were seen violating the curfew ordered by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Meanwhile, US Vice President Mike Pence reconvened the US Congress to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win once the Capitol building was cleared of Trump supporters.
The Mayor of Washington DC has extended the public emergency for 15 days. This comes hours after unruly Donald Trump supporters barged into the US Capital building and tried to lay siege to it.
Bloomberg has reported that Mayor Muriel Bowser has extended the public emergency order “for 15 days, or until January 21, the day after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.” The order includes the ability to call curfew.
World leaders have condemned the violent scenes in Washington, where rioters supporting Trump stormed the Capitol building.
Many leaders called for peace and an orderly transition of power, describing what happened as “horrifying” and an “attack on democracy”.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the “disgraceful scenes”.
“The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power,” he wrote on Twitter.
Other British politicians joined him in criticising the violence with opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer calling it a “direct attack on democracy”.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that the scenes from the Capitol were “utterly horrifying”.
Donald Trump has been suspended from Twitter after tweeting to supporters who attacked the US Capitol.
In a series of tweets he told the protesters “I love you” before telling them to go home. He also repeated false claims about election fraud.
Twitter said it required the removal of three tweets for “severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy”.
The company said the president’s account would remain locked for good if the tweets were not removed.
It went on to say that “Future violations of the Twitter Rules… will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account”.
It means Donald Trump’s days on Twitter could be numbered. The president is not known for paying much attention to Twitter’s community guidelines.
Meanwhile Facebook and YouTube also removed his video message to protestors.
Facebook said, “We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”
