WASHINGTON- The country’s lawmakers took to their electoral duties late Wednesday amid smashed doors and broken glasses in the United States Capitol after a historic day of mayhem wrought by pro-Trump rioters who breached the building in hopes to baffle President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Thousands of people got together at the National Mall to protest the election results. At a campaign-style rally about a day before the mob broke through police lines at the Capitol. Donald Trump had persuaded them to go to the building.
“The chaotic day included four deaths. Including one woman and two men- who died in separate medical emergencies. As well as a woman who was shot by the U.S. Capitol Police,” said D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee.
Contee said, “At least 14 Police Department Officers were wounded during the riots.” And the police also recovered two pipe bombs- one from the RNC and one from the DNC- he said.
By midnight, the once-crowded streets were almost entirely empty except for a handful of journalists and roving police patrols. About 25 police officers were guarding a barricade along Pennsylvania Avenue, near the pool in front of the U.S. Capitol.
After both the Senate and House voted to reject a complaint against Arizona’s 11 Electoral College votes for Biden, lawmakers will return to a joint meeting of Congress and resume counting the Electoral College votes in alphabetic order by state.
Donald Trump later tweeted asking the protestors to “stay peaceful” and posted a video advocating law and order. In the video, he was also urging the rioters to go home.
President-elect Joe Biden had called for Trump to go on National TV and order an end to “this siege,” adding, “It’s not a protest, it’s a rebellion.”
