Pro-Trump mob storms US Capitol in attempt to overturn America’s presidential election

Supporters of President Donald Trump breached the US Capitol on Wednesday while Congress was meeting to certify the Electoral College’s votes for president and vice president.

The Capitol was put on lockdown and the certification vote was paused after the demonstrators stormed the building in attempts to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House.

It took several hours for the Capitol to be secured. Vice President Mike Pence was moved to a safe location, as was congressional leadership.

This was the first time the US Capitol had been breached since the British attacked and burned the building in August of 1814, during the War of 1812, according to Samuel Holliday, director of scholarship and operations with the US Capitol Historical Society.

This came after President Donald Trump gave his supporters a boost into action Wednesday morning at a rally outside the White House, where he urged them to march to the Capitol.

The demonstrators freely roamed through the Capitol complex, including the Senate chamber, where one man stood on the president of the Senate’s chair and shouted, “Trump won that election!”

Congress returned to the Capitol in the evening to resume the certification process.

Vice President Mike Pence, reopening the Senate, directly addressed the demonstrators, “You did not win.”

Hours later, Twitter for the first time time locked Trump’s account, demanded that he remove tweets excusing violence and threatened “permanent suspension.”

“Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account,” Twitter said. “Our public interest policy — which has guided our enforcement action in this area for years — ends where we believe the risk of harm is higher and/or more severe.”

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