Four people are dead following Wednesday’s protests and the pro-Trump mob storming the Capitol, according to Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee.
One woman and two men, suffered “medical emergencies” at the protests, and have subsequently died, Contee said during a press conference Wednesday night.
Another woman was shot and killed during a standoff inside the U.S. Capitol between law enforcement and supporters of President Donald Trump, who breached the building, forcing a lockdown with members of Congress inside.
She was shot by a Capitol police officer, after “multiple individuals forced entry into the Capitol building, and attempted to gain access to the house and attempted to gain access to the house, room, which was still in session,” Contee said Wednesday. She was transported to a local hospital where after all lifesaving efforts failed, she was pronounced dead.
The protesters, some of who were seen wearing body armor, made their way up the steps around 2:15 p.m. ET, pushing through barricades, officers in riot gear and other security measures put in place in anticipation of the protest.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Ok, told ABC News Live that he saw the shooting happened and allegedly saw police shoot the woman.
Officials said they swept rooms to make sure there were no devices. The Senate resumed their session at 8 p.m., where both Vice President Mike Pence and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell condemned the mob.
“We will not be kept out of this chamber by mobs or thugs or threats. We will not bow to lawlessness or intimidation,” McConnell said. “We are back at our posts. We will discharge our duty under the Constitution and for our nation – and we’re going to do it tonight.”
McConnell went on to call Wednesday’s event a “failed insurrection.”
After repeated calls from leaders on both sides of the aisle to call off his supporters, the president released a video message on Twitter at 4:17 p.m., telling his supporters to go home. In the same video, he continued to push baseless, false claims about the election.
“I know you’re in pain, I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us,” he said, repeating a false claim in the 1-minute pre-recorded video. “But you have to go home now.”
Twitter removed the tweet with the video along with two other tweets. At 7 p.m. Twitter announced it locked Trump’s account for 12 hours and will continue to keep it locked until the tweets are deleted.
“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 in a thread. Later in the night Facebook announced it would not allow Trump’s official page to post for 24 hours.
The tweet came just as Trump’s successor, President-elect Joe Biden, held a news conference to address the situation. He called on Trump to tell his supporters to stop.
“This is not dissent, it’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end now. I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward,” Biden said.
The entire D.C. National Guard has been activated to help, and several other law enforcement groups, including the Federal Protective Service, Secret Service, Virginia National Guard, and Arlington, Virginia, Police Department, are responding to assist the U.S. Capitol Police.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said around 3:40 p.m., the National Guard was on its way. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested the National Guard’s help to secure the Capitol, according to a source.
Source: ABC News
