Protesters breached the meeting place of the United States Congress and the seat of the legislative branch of the U.S also known as Capitol on Wednesday afternoon as both the House and Senate were meeting inside after President Trump urged demonstrators to march there and pressure Congress to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
Hundreds of people protesting Mr. Trump’s loss in the November election could be seen walking through the building’s famous Statuary Hall after pushing aside barricades and shoving police out of the way, waving Trump and American flags and cheering from the balconies of the Capitol building. Thousands of protesters surrounded the Capitol on all sides, and some climbed up the outside walls.
The police presence appeared to be minimal, though there were some police in riot gear on the east side of the Capitol by the Senate entrance.
Protesters chanted “Take the building!” and “Stop the steal!”—a popular refrain as Mr. Trump’s supporters challenged the results of the November presidential election.
The events caused the Capitol Police to order lawmakers to lock themselves in their offices. Two House office buildings were evacuated and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a 6 p.m. curfew citywide.
Earlier, the protesters, many without masks, massed around the Washington Monument and stretched across the National Mall toward the Ellipse in front of the White House, where Mr. Trump, who hasn’t conceded the election, repeated his claims of voter fraud and complained about news coverage of him to cheers.
Hundreds of protesters then marched to the Capitol, knocked over a barricade on the west side of the building and marched up the steps, some yelling “take the Capitol!” and reaching the edge of the building. Police sirens blared and officers rushed toward the crowd. A few of the protesters climbed scaffolding outside the Capitol that had been erected for the coming inauguration of President-elect Biden.
The protests, which began Tuesday, mark the third time since November that demonstrations against the election’s outcome have taken place in the capital, though this was the first time Mr. Trump spoke to one of the groups.
Meanwhile president Trump in a viral video asked his supporters to remain calm.
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