Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gathered en masse and stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday, breaching police barricades and forcing the building into a lockdown.
The protests came as a joint session of Congress commenced to confirm Joe Biden‘s 2020 presidential election victory.
Supporters of the Republican president entered the building, breaching the Senate and the private offices of elected officials.
Here’s a look at what happened inside the building.
Shelter in place
As protesters stormed the entrances, the building went into lockdown, forcing politicians, their staffers and members of the media to shelter in place.
Others were evacuated from their offices and from the chambers to undisclosed locations as police worked to secure the building.
Philly Inquirer reporter Jonathan Tamari, who was inside the House Chamber, said protesters were smashing the doors of the room in an attempt to get inside.
“My hands are starting to shake,” Politico reporter Olivia Beavers wrote from inside the chamber.
“I can’t fully relay right (now) how fear is coursing through the house right now as the sound of gas masks are being unwrapped.”
Photos from inside the room show people sheltering in place, hiding underneath the seats and in the aisles of the gallery.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Furniture was pushed against the door to try to secure the chamber as members of the mob banged on the doors.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Photos of the scene show security with guns drawn, pointing at the door to the chamber after a glass panel was smashed.
Maryland Rep. David Trone shared photos of himself donning a provided gas mask on Twitter, confirming he was safe.
“We have been evacuated,” he said. “Let me be clear: we will not be stopped by this lawless intimidation.”
Congresswoman Grace Meng shared photos on Twitter of her hiding spot.
“After 5 hours I’ve been rescued from my hiding place,” she wrote. “Now I can show you my DIY barricade and gas masks.”
Meng said she could hear protesters outside the door chanting “USA.”
“It was scary but I am ok!” she said.
Meanwhile in the Senate, protesters were able to get into the gallery and on the chamber’s floor.
(Getty Images)
Photos show one protester sitting in the chair Vice President Mike Pence occupied just minutes earlier.
Metropolitan police confirmed to Global News one woman who was shot inside the Capitol building has died.
She was “pronounced dead at an area hospital,” officers said.
It is not immediately clear who the woman was, or who shot her.
Office break-ins
Trump supporters also breached the offices of elected members of Congress, sitting behind desks and touching their belongings.
Photographers inside the Capitol building caught the break-ins on camera.
(Getty images)
Police outnumbered
Meanwhile, outside, police remained drastically outnumbered by the protesters, and struggled to keep the protesters off of the steps and balconies of the buildings.
Speaking to Americans on Tuesday, Biden said America’s democracy is “under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times.”
However, Biden said the actions of these “extremists” do not reflect the “true America.”
“They do not represent who we are,” he said, adding that “it must end now.”
Biden called on Trump to “go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege.”
Biden said today is a “painful reminder” that “democracy is fragile.”
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed Biden’s remarks in a statement, calling on Trump to demand the protestors leave the Capitol building and grounds “immediately.”
In a video posted to Twitter just before 4:30 p.m. ET, Trump told his supporters: “You have to go home now.”
However, in the video, Trump continued to assert baseless claims that the election had been “stolen.”
Earlier, the president tweeted, asking people at the Capitol to “remain peaceful,” despite reports of protesters and police clashing.
“No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order — respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!” he wrote.
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered a 6 p.m. curfew.
According to a Reuters report, the building was considered secured just before 6 p.m. ET.
House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving told House members the building was cleared after they spent several hours in lockdown following evacuation as pro-Trump demonstrators attacked the Capitol.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney said what happened Wednesday was “an insurrection, incited by the President of the United States.”
“Those who choose to 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 our democracy,” he said in a statement.
“They will be remembered for their role in this shameful episode in American history. That will be their legacy”
Romney said Congress “must not be intimidated or prevented from fulfilling our constitutional duty.”“We must continue with the count of electoral college votes.”
In a tweet Wednesday just after 7 p.m., Pence’s Press Secretary Devin O’Malley said the Vice President has “returned to the Senate.”
O’Malley said Pence was in “regular contact” with House and Senate leadership, police the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense to “facilitate efforts to secure the Capitol & reconvene Congress.”
-With a file from Reuters
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