It’s no longer a quiet coup attempt.
President Donald Trump today delivered a speech to protestors today saying he’d never concede and encouraged his protestors to go do the Capitol. Protestors stormed the Capitol building and more police are coming in. Cable News is covered this in great detail.
Capitol police ordered lawmakers and reporters to shelter in place within the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, as protesters at a “March for Trump” breached the building following Congress beginning to certify Electoral College votes for Joe Biden.
Where it stands: The House and Senate are in recess and all the doors are now closed in the House Chambers, per Axios reporters on the ground. Vice President Mike Pence, overseeing the certification of Electoral College votes, was evacuated from the Senate chamber around 2 p.m.What we’re hearing: Protesters walked through the Capitol statuary hall, which separates the House and Senate, filling into both sides with U.S. flags and MAGA flags.
Reporters were advised just after 2:30 p.m. to “be prepared to get down” in their chairs and to relocate, Axios’ Kadia Goba reports.
At 2:31 p.m., everyone was evacuated from the floor.
A police officer stood in the center of the Cannon office building and shouted: “EVERYONE OUT, RIGHT NOW … WE’RE EVACUATING,” Axios’ Alayna Treene reports. Police ushered everyone toward the Longworth office building.
Sen. Mitt Romney reportedly excoriated his colleagues in the Senate as chaos erupted in the chamber.
“This is what you’ve gotten, guys,” he yelled, seemingly addressing his GOP colleagues who've pushed Trump's election fraud claims, according to reporters who heard him.
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) January 6, 2021
I'm increasingly unsure that Donald Trump will still be president on January 19. I don't see how he can continue to serve as president after what he did today. There have been shots fired into the House chamber by violent seditionists he deliberately incited.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) January 6, 2021
Anyone out there have any doubt now that @realDonaldTrump is a psychopath?
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 6, 2021
The calls for Donald Trump to resign the presidency immediately should be universal at this point. He actively and publicly orchestrated mass sedition and he cannot continue in his office now.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) January 6, 2021
Disgraceful— Trump so desperate for attention, he has led his followers to this. All of this is fueled and motivated by his lies.
— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) January 6, 2021
This is the America that Fox News, Facebook, and most Republicans in Congress have brought us https://t.co/sq9DMOeYzA
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) January 6, 2021
I am in the House Chambers. We have been instructed to lie down on the floor and put on our gas masks. Chamber security and Capitol Police have their guns drawn as protesters bang on the front door of the chamber.
This is not a protest. This is an attack on America.
— Rep. Dan Kildee (@RepDanKildee) January 6, 2021
Police have guns drawn. We are hiding behind chairs and tables on House gallery
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) January 6, 2021
Police have guns drawn. We are hiding behind chairs and tables on House gallery
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) January 6, 2021
Every member of the House and Senate #SeditionCaucus should be held to account for their role in encouraging this ongoing coup attempt. EXPEL THEM!
— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) January 6, 2021
This is the first time in the country's history that the core constitutional process of the transfer of power has been disrupted by force. Of course the Civil War was a vastly greater breakdown. But the South didn't try to prevent Lincoln's inauguration. They seceded.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 6, 2021
WTF did he think would happen??? https://t.co/an21JlT7aY
— Jennifer 'Stop Trump and GOP Sedition' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) January 6, 2021
BREAKING: At least 1 person shot inside US Capitol, WTTG reports
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 6, 2021
These are not “protesters”. They are insurrectionists trying to overthrow the government of the United States.
— Jonathan Alter (@jonathanalter) January 6, 2021
Holy shit they’re literally breaking into the Capitol pic.twitter.com/y3WWefJsej
— Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) January 6, 2021
If the reports that the DoD is denying requests to deploy the national guard to retake the #capital building are true, the @VP needs to get the cabinet to invoke the #25AmendmentNow in order to allow the capital guard to be deployed immediately.
— Geoff Bowser (@geoffreybowser) January 6, 2021
From a Marine combat vet —> https://t.co/Q8GOzTDLQv
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) January 6, 2021
I'm increasingly unsure that Donald Trump will still be president on January 19. I don't see how he can continue to serve as president after what he did today. There have been shots fired into the House chamber by violent seditionists he deliberately incited.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) January 6, 2021
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.