Pro-Trump protesters violate US Capitol on historic Congress day

Supporters of President Donald Trump violated the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, while Congress met to certify the Electoral College’s votes for president and vice president.

The Capitol was blocked and the certification vote was interrupted after protesters broke into the building. It took several hours for the Capitol to be protected. Vice President Mike Pence was safely evacuated from the Capitol, as was Congressional leadership.

The impressive demonstration of insurrection was the first time that the US Capitol was breached since the British attacked and burned the building in August 1814, during the War of 1812, according to Samuel Holliday, director of scholarships and operations at the Historical Society of the US Capitol.

Counting electoral votes by Congress is usually little more than an afterthought. But Wednesday’s joint session was supposed to be a contentious affair that would last until late at night and possibly on Thursday. Some Republicans are opposing the count and delaying the inevitable certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Your drive is bound to fail. Democrats and a significant number of Republicans are planning to vote against all objections in the House and Senate, saying it is a futile attempt to reverse the election result. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has already vigorously rebuked Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread electoral fraud, warning his Republican colleagues that failing to certify election results could “harm our republic forever”.

Trump and his campaign have pressed false and unfounded conspiracy theories that the election was rigged against him. The president and his allies lost dozens of lawsuits across the country that alleged fraud and questioned the constitutionality of state election laws.