January 6, 2020, Washington, D.C., (LifeSiteNews) – The United States capitol building was put into lockdown due to protestors entering the facility Wednesday.
Members of Congress were reportedly evacuated from the premises. There were no reports that lawmakers were harmed or held hostage.
One young woman, Ashli Babbit, was shot, apparently by Capitol Hill police, and has since died. Video footage that aired on C-SPAN this week shows what looked to be fire extinguisers being used by some of the protestors.
The protestors breached the Capitol as the House and Senate were debating the counting of the Electoral College votes from the State of Arizona. The count was delayed until 8:00pm EST.
While it’s unclear who exactly the protestors were, it appears they came from the Save America Rally held earlier in the day just south of the White House where President Trump delivered a speech about the election. The protestors flocked to the United States Capitol building following the march. Barricades were removed and skirmishes with police ensued. The large number of protestors seemed to overwhelm capitol police, though some video evidence has emerged that suggests the metal fences were removed by the police themselves. Some conservatives have claimed that Antifa infiltrated the march and broke into the capitol in an effort to blame the president for encouraging an insurrection.
Joe Biden issued a statement Wednesday calling on President Trump to address the country and to demand the “seige” come to an end. Trump published a video message released on Twitter calling for protestors to “go home” that was later removed by the platform, which deemed it to be inciting violence. As a result, the president has been locked out of Twitter for 12 hours.
This is a developing situation. Updates will be provided as they become available.