Washington D.C. imposes curfew as Trump supporters storm US Capitol
By Ayo Fadimu with Agency Report
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered a citywide curfew on Wednesday after President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol during the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
The angry supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, marching through the building, shouting and waving Trump and American flags and forcing a halt to congressional deliberations over challenges to Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
The curfew started at 6 p.m. on Wednesday and remains in effect until 6 a.m. Thursday.
“During the hours of the curfew, no person, other than persons designated by the mayor, shall walk, bike, run, loiter, stand or motor by car or other mode of transport upon any street, alley, park or other public place within the District,” Bowser said in her order.
The curfew was imposed following the invasion of US Capitol by Trump’s supporters. Senators were being evacuated. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices.
Demonstrators fought with Capitol Police and then forced their way into the building, not long after a huge rally near the White House during which Trump egged them on to march to Capitol Hill.
Lawmakers had convened for an extraordinary joint session to confirm the Electoral College results but protests erupted outside the Capitol and government office buildings were being evacuated.
Though fellow Republicans were behind the challenge to Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College victory, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sought to lower tensions and argued against it. He warned the country “cannot keep drifting apart into two separate tribes” with “separate facts.”
McConnell declared, “The voters, the courts and the states all have spoken.”
But other Republicans, including House GOP leaders among Trump’s allies were acting out the pleas of supporters at his huge Wednesday rally up Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House to “fight for Trump.”
“We have to fix this,” said Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the GOP whip.
The last-gasp effort is all but certain to fail, defeated by bipartisan majorities in Congress prepared to accept the November results. Biden is to be inaugurated Jan. 20.
Still, Trump vowed that he would “never concede” and urged the massive crowd to march to the Capitol where hundreds had already gathered under tight security.
“We will never give up,” Trump told his noontime rally.
Vice President Mike Pence was closely watched as he stepped onto the dais to preside over the joint session in the House chamber.
Pence has a largely ceremonial role, opening the sealed envelopes from the states after they are carried in mahogany boxes used for the occasion, and reading the results aloud. But he was under growing pressure from Trump to overturn the will of the voters and tip the results in the president’s favor, despite having no legal power to affect the outcome.
“Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!” Trump tweeted Wednesday.
But Pence, in a statement shortly before presiding, defied Trump, saying he could not claim “unilateral authority” to reject the electoral votes that make Biden president.
Despite Trump’s repeated claims of voter fraud, election officials and his own former attorney general have said there were no problems on a scale that would change the outcome. All the states have certified their results as fair and accurate by Republican and Democratic officials alike.
In a related development, a joint session of Congress on Wednesday to certify the U.S. presidential election – normally a procedural affair – turned into a partisan showdown as allies of President Donald Trump mounted a last-ditch effort to overturn his loss.
Some Republican lawmakers objected to Congress certifying president-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the U.S. state of Arizona, the first of several expected challenges to state results.
The highly unusual move broke up the joint session, a typically routine step in confirming which candidate won the presidential election, and prompted both chambers to withdraw to debate the challenge for two hours.
The challenges are almost certain to be overruled, but could cause a delay stretching the process into the night.
Biden, a Democrat, won both the popular vote and the necessary number of Electoral College votes to be declared the winner of the November presidential election.
A group of Republican senators, led by Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, as well as dozens of Republicans in the House of Representatives, had vowed to reject Biden’s win in several states unless there is an audit of the election results.
The moves have split the Republican party, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying that overruling voters would damage the country forever.
“I will vote to respect the people’s decision and defend our system of government as we know it,” he told the debate on the Senate floor.
Vice President Mike Pence has been thrust into the spotlight as he has come under pressure from Trump to declare him the winner of the election.
Pence’s resistance could set up a clash with Trump, who earlier told thousands of supporters that it would be a “sad day for our country” if Pence did not “come through for us.”
Trump also repeated baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud at the rally on the Ellipse near the White House.
Trump told the cheering crowd, adding: “You don’t concede when there’s theft.”
Protesters descended on the capital from dozens of states across the country to support his claims, shunning face masks despite the raging coronavirus pandemic, while some waved Confederate flags and wore t-shirts that said “nuke the swamp.”
“I am from Detroit and I saw the fraud. The fraud is real, the evidence is overwhelming,” Ben Cushman of Michigan told dpa.
Trump had goaded supporters to join the demonstration, which included a melange of right-wing groups such as QAnon supporters and militia members.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called in National Guard troops and urged residents to avoid confrontations with protesters ready to use violence.
Trump’s allies have filed dozens of election-related lawsuits in an effort to challenge the vote tallies in key swing states, almost all of which have been thrown out due to a lack of evidence.
Heightening the drama, Democrats were poised to take control of the Senate as results came in from the twin runoff elections in the state of Georgia.
One Democratic candidate was projected the winner over his Republican opponent, while the other Democrat declared victory as tallies showed him with a narrow lead.
The Democratic candidates’ win over the Republican incumbents would hand control of Congress to the party, marking a blow for Trump and an unexpected turn for a state that has trended Republican for decades
However, in an apparent damage control move, President Trump has called his supporters to be peaceful while protesting what he described as fraudulent victory of the Democrats.
“Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement,” Trump said on Twitter more than an hour after protesters breached a security cordon.
“I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”
The president tweeted more than half an hour later as stunning scenes played out at the Capitol, with his supporters swarming the building and lawmakers going into lockdown.
