Lawmakers resumed counting Electoral School votes on Wednesday, hours after a mob of Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol ensuing within the demise
Lawmakers resumed counting Electoral School votes on Wednesday, hours after a mob of Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol ensuing within the demise of 1 girl, with Vice President Mike Pence gaveling within the session and saying that Wednesday was a “darkish day within the historical past of the USA Capitol.”
“To those that wreaked havoc in our Capitol right now, you didn’t win,” Mr. Pence stated. “Violence by no means wins. Freedom wins. And that is nonetheless the folks’s home.”
Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, promptly vowed that the Senate would end its work Wednesday night time, undeterred by “failed rebel.”
“They tried to disrupt our democracy,” he stated. “They failed. They failed.”
Earlier within the night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a letter to colleagues that they have been decided to reconvene saying, “We at all times knew this duty would take us into the night time.”
Violence overtook the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, when a mob loyal to President Trump stormed the constructing, halting Congress’s counting of the votes because the police evacuated lawmakers in a scene of violence, chaos and disruption that shook the core of American democracy.
The sergeant-at-arms, the highest safety official on the Capitol, introduced that the constructing had been secured round 5:40 p.m.
The unrest prompted Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington to declare a citywide curfew from 6 p.m. Wednesday night time to six a.m. Thursday morning, which was later prolonged to Jan. 21. The Military activated the District of Columbia Nationwide Guard in response to a request from the mayor, an Military official stated.
The chaos started round 2:15 p.m., because the Home and Senate debated a transfer by a faction of Republicans to overturn the election outcomes, safety rushed Vice President Mike Pence out of the Senate chamber and the Capitol constructing was positioned on lockdown.
In a scene of unrest frequent in authoritarian international locations however seldom witnessed within the historical past of the USA capital, a whole bunch of individuals within the mob barreled previous fence barricades outdoors the Capitol and clashed with officers. Shouting demonstrators mobbed the second flooring foyer simply outdoors the Senate chamber, as legislation enforcement officers positioned themselves in entrance of the chamber doorways.
For a time, senators and members of the Home have been locked inside their respective chambers. Pictures posted on social media confirmed at the least one individual took to the podium of the Home chamber to declare his help for Mr. Trump.
“That is what you’ve gotten, guys,” Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, yelled because the mayhem unfolded within the Senate chamber, apparently addressing his colleagues who have been main the cost to press Mr. Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.
“That is what the president has induced right now, this rebel,” Mr. Romney stated later.
Mr. Biden responded to the violence on Wednesday, saying, “I name on President Trump to go on nationwide tv now to satisfy his oath and defend the Structure and demand an finish to this siege.”
In a quick video posted to his Twitter account shortly after four p.m., Mr. Trump repeated his baseless declare that “the election was stolen” and spoke in sympathetic and affectionate phrases to members of the mob, earlier than advising them to “go house.” “We love you,” he added.
The posting, which Twitter later eliminated after locking the president’s account, got here hours after Mr. Trump appeared at a rally wherein he exhorted his supporters to go to the Capitol to register their discontent.
As officers and members of the mob clashed outdoors, lawmakers had been debating an objection to the certification of Arizona electors, ensconced of their respective chambers.
The extraordinary day in Washington laid naked deep divisions each between the 2 events and inside Republican ranks, when the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that unfolds each 4 years in Congress became an explosive spectacle.
Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the bulk chief, warned of a “demise spiral” for democracy, whereas Consultant Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, listed a litany of accusations of election fraud with little proof.
By Wednesday night, former President George W. Bush was among the many high-profile Republicans who sharply condemned what he referred to as “mayhem” and a “violent assault on the Capitol.”
That is how election outcomes are disputed in a banana republic — not our democratic republic,” he stated in an announcement.