WASHINGTON— As Congress gathered Wednesday for the constitutional process to affirm Joe Biden’s victory in the November election, protesters backing President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol, forcing a lock down.
Latest updates on the violent occupation of the Capitol and Congress’ Electoral College certification
9:00 p.m.: The House resumes session to debate certifying the 2020 presidential election.
8:55 p.m.: Multiple Republican senators have reversed course and now say they won’t object to congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
8:30 p.m.: President Trump’s Facebook page is blocked for 24 hours
8:20 p.m.: Former President Barack Obama says history will rightly remember the violence at the Capitol as a moment of great dishonor and shame for the nation.
8:10 p.m.: Senate resumes session to debate certifying the 2020 presidential election. Pence, McConnell, and Schumer all condemned today’s events.
6:50 p.m.: Twitter has removed several tweets from the president’s timeline, including his video address.
6:05 p.m.: The woman who was shot inside the Capitol during violent pro-Trump protest has died, PIX11 has confirmed.
6:00 p.m.: President Trump rationalizes violent occupation of U.S. Capitol with more baseless claims of fraud. “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,” he said in a tweet.
6:00 p.m.: A curfew begins in Washington D.C. and is set to be active until 6 a.m.
5:45 p.m.: Facebook VP of integrity says Trump’s video message has been removed from its platform because “we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”
5:40 p.m.: Rep. Ritchie Torres says on PIX11 News that the Capitol is “secured.”
5:40 p.m.: Police are using tear gas and percussion grenades to begin clearing pro-Trump protesters from the grounds of the U.S. Capitol ahead of a curfew in Washington. Police are using tear gas and percussion grenades to begin clearing pro-Trump protesters from the grounds of the U.S. Capitol ahead of a curfew in Washington.
5:30 p.m.: Republican Sen. Ben Sasse is directly blaming President Donald Trump for the storming of the Capitol by huge, angry crowds of pro-Trump protesters.
5:11 p.m.: Vice President-elect Kamala Harris echoes President-elect Joe Biden’s condemnation of “the assault on our Capitol” and calls for it to end. READ MORE.
5:05 p.m.: Pro-Trump demonstrators have massed outside statehouses across the country, forcing evacuations in at least two states. READ MORE.
5:00 p.m.: The police chief of Washington, D.C., says pro-Trump protesters deployed “chemical irritants” on police in order to break into the U.S. Capitol.
4:50 p.m.: DC police chief says protesters deployed “chemical irritants on police” to gain access to Capitol.
4:40 p.m.: President Donald Trump, in a video message, is urging supporters to “go home” but is also keeping up false attacks about the presidential election. “We love you. You’re very special,” he said. READ MORE.
4:35 p.m.: At least one explosive device has been found near the U.S. Capitol amid a violent occupation of the building by supporters of President Donald Trump. READ MORE.
4:10 p.m.: President-elect Joe Biden has called the violent protests on the U.S. Capitol “an assault on the most sacred of American undertakings: the doing of the people’s business.” READ MORE.
4:05 p.m.: Vice President Mike Pence is calling on protesters to leave the Capitol immediately, going further than President Donald Trump who merely called for his supporters to “remain peaceful.” READ MORE.
4:00 p.m.: The Pentagon says about 1,100 D.C. National Guard members are being mobilized to help support law enforcement as violent supporters of President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol.
3:55 p.m.: Top Democrats in Congress are demanding that President Donald Trump order his supporters to leave the Capitol following a chaotic protest aimed at blocking a peaceful transfer of power.
3:50 p.m.: The White House says National Guard troops along with other federal protective services were en route to the Capitol to help end an violent occupation by President Donald Trump’s supporters.
3:37 p.m.: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he spoke with the president earlier Wednesday and told him to make a statement to “make sure that we can calm individuals down.”
3:35 p.m.: The Department of Homeland Security is sending additional federal agents to the U.S. Capitol to help quell violence from supporters of President Donald Trump who are protesting Congress’ formal approval of President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
3:30 p.m.: One person has been shot at the U.S. Capitol as dozens of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building and violently clashed with police. READ MORE.
3:25 p.m.: President Donald Trump is encouraging supporters occupying the U.S. Capitol to “remain peaceful,” but he is not calling for them to disperse. READ MORE.
2:50 p.m.: Members of Congress inside the House chamber were told by police to put on gas masks after tear gas was dispersed in the Capitol Rotunda amid skirmishes by supporters of President Donald Trump. READ MORE.
2:40 p.m. The mayor of Washington, D.C., ordered a curfew in the nation’s capital beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday after protesters seeking to overturn the election results stormed the U.S. Capitol building. READ MORE.
2:38 p.m.: President Donald Trump tweeted, telling his supporters in Washington D.C. to “support” Capitol police and other law enforcement. He also told them to “stay peaceful.”
2:20 p.m.: Both chambers of Congress abruptly went to recess as protesters forced a lockdown at the U.S. Capitol. READ MORE.
1:55 p.m. Police told congressional staff members they should evacuate the Cannon House Office Building and the building that houses the Library of Congress.
1:50 p.m.: The Senate’s top Republican told his colleagues that Congress should not override the voters’ verdict in electing Democrat Joe Biden president, saying, “If we overrule them we will damage our republic forever.”
1:10 p.m.: With supporters of President Donald Trump gathering around the Capitol, more than a dozen Republican senators and more than 100 Republican House members have said they will object to the count from as many as six battleground states. They are echoing Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud.
1 p.m.: Vice President Mike Pence defied the president, saying he can’t reject the electoral votes. READ MORE.
12:50 p.m.: Congress began the joint session to confirm President-Elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.
12:15 p.m.: President Donald Trump vowed that “we will never concede” as he speaks to supporters shortly before Congress is to convene for a joint session. READ MORE.
