Pro-Trump Mob Breaches Capitol
By The New York Times
Protesters linger as law enforcement surrounds the Capitol building.
There are still protesters — and even more law enforcement — around the Capitol in Washington tonight, several hours after a curfew was imposed following a pro-Trump mob’s storming of the building.1 hour ago
By Neil Vigdor
Congress resumes vote-counting as leaders on both sides repudiate siege.
Rattled but defiant, members of Congress returned to the Capitol on Wednesday night to resume counting the electoral votes from the November election, a process that leaders on both sides of the aisle said would not be derailed by the earlier siege of the building by President Trump’s supporters.
“This temple to democracy was desecrated, its windows smashed, our offices vandalized,” Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, said as the Senate reconvened.
Mr. Schumer, who is poised to become the majority leader after Democrats won both of Tuesday’s runoffs in Georgia, said that January 6, 2021, was a date that would live in infamy, invoking President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s phrase after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
By Annie Karni
Charles Kushner tells friend that Trump’s behavior is ‘beyond our control.’
Charles Kushner, the father of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, admitted in an email to a close confidante on Wednesday that the president’s behavior was “beyond our control.”
Bob Sommer, a longtime Kushner family friend who once represented the family real estate company, Kushner Companies, erupted in anger at Mr. Kushner, who last month received a presidential pardon from Mr. Trump.
“I’ve texted jared as well,” said Mr. Sommer, who served as president of the Observer, wrote. He urged his former client to please “get trump to be an American” instead of an expletive.
By Maggie Haberman and Helene Cooper
Trump rebuffed initial requests to deploy the National Guard to the Capitol. Pence gave the go-ahead.
President Trump initially rebuffed and resisted requests to mobilize the National Guard to quell violent protests at the Capitol, according to a person with knowledge of the events.
In the end, it was Vice President Mike Pence, defense and administration officials said, who approved the order to deploy. It was unclear why Mr. Trump, who is still technically the commander in chief, did not give the order. The mobilization was initiated with the help of Pat A. Cipollone, the White House counsel, among other officials, according to the person with knowledge of the events.
Kash Patel, the chief of staff to Chris Miller, the acting defense secretary, responded: “The acting secretary and the president have spoken multiple times this week about the request for National Guard personnel in D.C. During these conversations, the president conveyed to the acting secretary that he should take any necessary steps to support civilian law enforcement requests in securing the Capitol and federal buildings.”
By Neil Vigdor
A prominent business group calls on Pence to start Constitutional process to remove Trump from office.
A lobbying group for the manufacturing industry — an entity once aligned with the Trump administration — urged Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday to utilize powers within the constitution to remove President Trump from office after Mr. Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
In a lengthy statement, the National Association of Manufacturers termed the violent incursion at the Capitol complex as “mob rule” that it said was fueled by Mr. Trump.
The 14,000-member group, which last year honored Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter, said that Mr. Trump was not fit for office.
By Michael Levenson
Twitter, taking a harder line, locks President Trump’s account. Facebook does the same.
Twitter on Wednesday took the extraordinary step of locking President Trump’s account, depriving the president of his favorite means of communication after violent Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and swarmed the streets of Washington.
Twitter took the harder line after removing three of Mr. Trump’s tweets, which it said had violated a company policy that forbids using the platform “for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes.”
Facebook later said it had “assessed two policy violations” against Mr. Trump’s page, and said it was blocking him from posting on the platform for 24 hours.
The New York Times
In photos: Night falls on Washington.
By Neil Vigdor
Mitt Romney says Trump incited an ‘insurrection’ at the Capitol.
Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, condemned President Trump on Wednesday night for the breaching of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, saying that the president bore direct responsibility for the violence that disrupted the counting of electoral votes by Congress.
“What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the president of the United States,” Mr. Romney said in a statement. “Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate, democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy.”
Mr. Romney, the lone Republican in the Senate who voted to convict Mr. Trump last year on one of two articles of impeachment, has been the target of verbal attacks by Mr. Trump’s supporters in recent days. Videos showed one of the president’s followers confronting Mr. Romney before a flight at Salt Lake City International Airport earlier this week. He was later heckled by Mr. Trump’s supporters aboard a flight.
The New York Times
In photos: A mob’s costumes foreshadow its actions.
Some of the protesters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday came in costume — dressed like Vikings, pioneers or soldiers in camouflage. Many had faces painted with American flags and others carried elaborate signs.
By Emily Cochrane
Pelosi: The electoral vote tally will resume tonight.
Lawmakers will resume counting Electoral College votes on Wednesday after a mob of Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said, as she vowed that the attack could not “deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden.”
Ms. Pelosi, in a letter to colleagues, said she had reached that decision after consulting with her leadership team and a series of calls with the Pentagon, the Justice Department and Vice President Mike Pence. She made no mention of the president.
‘We always knew this responsibility would take us into the night,” Ms. Pelosi wrote. “We also knew that we would be a part of history in a positive way, today, despite ill-founded objections to the Electoral College vote. We now will be part of history, as such a shameful picture of our country was put out to the world, instigated at the highest level.”
By The New York Times
Twitter locks Trump’s account after he encouraged his supporters to ‘remember this day.’
In what could be interpreted as an attempt to stoke the flames of a Capitol mob which has begun to disperse, President Trump sent a tweet at around 6 p.m. in which he reiterated the false claim that the election was stolen and encouraged his supporters to “remember this day” going forward.
“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long,” he tweeted. “Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”
Twitter later took down the tweet, saying that it had violated the company’s rules.
Mr. Trump also posted a video in which he repeated his baseless claims of widespread election fraud on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. All three social media sites removed the video.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Woman shot in the Capitol has died.
A woman who was shot inside the Capitol building after it was overrun by a pro-Trump mob has died, Washington D.C. police officials said on Wednesday.
The woman has not been identified and no information has been released about who may have shot her. Chief Robert J. Contee of the Metropolitan Police Department said earlier that she was a “civilian” and that his officers were leading the investigation.
The woman was pronounced dead at a local hospital, Dustin Sternbeck, a spokesman for the police department, said in an email. Mr. Sternbeck said he did not yet know who shot her or have any other details.
By Eric Schmitt
‘I thought we’d have to fight our way out,’ a congressman says.
Within minutes of the mob breaching the Capitol complex, rioters were pounding on the doors of the House gallery, where a group of lawmakers were trapped.
“I thought we’d have to fight our way out,” said Representative Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado and a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq.
Mr. Crow said he moved other members away from the barricaded door inside the gallery, helped them don gas masks, told them to take off the lapel pins assigned to all House members and took out his only possible weapon — a pen.
By Jennifer Steinhauer
Police in Washington seize 5 guns and arrest at least 13 during violent Capitol protest.
Police seized five guns and arrested at least 13 people during the violent protests involving supporters of President Trump at the Capitol on Wednesday, Chief Robert J. Contee of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department said on Wednesday.
Chief Contee said the firearms included handguns and long guns. He also noted that none of the people arrested were residents of the District of Columbia.
At the same news conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the violent protests, where Trump supporters looted and vandalized congressional offices, “shameful” and “unpatriotic.”
By Emily Cochrane and Neil Vigdor
Sergeant-at-arms declares the Capitol cleared of a rampaging mob.
The sergeant-at-arms, who is responsible for Congress’s security, has told lawmakers and reporters that the Capitol is now secure, though lawmakers, staff and reporters continue to shelter in much of the Capitol complex.
Lawmakers in both parties have called for the certification process of the Electoral College votes to resume with the securing of the building. No word yet if and when that will begin.
Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, vowed that Congress would continue the counting on Wednesday night.
By Adam Goldman
A sign from Nancy Pelosi’s office was taken as a trophy.
One of the members of the mob that breached the Capitol was seen outside the building displaying part of the sign that marked the entrance to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. Multiple photos haven been tweeted out from inside Ms. Pelosi’s offices, which were vacated so quickly that some staffers left their email programs up on their screens.4 hours ago
By Jonathan Weisman
Republican Senator Ben Sasse unloads on Trump.
Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, was unsparing in his criticism of President Trump as the instigator of the day’s events.
“Today, the United States Capitol — the world’s greatest symbol of self-government — was ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard — tweeting against his vice president for fulfilling the duties of his oath to the Constitution,” he said in a statement.
“Lies have consequences,” he continued. “This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the president’s addiction to constantly stoking division.”
He added: “Americans are better than this: Americans aren’t nihilists. Americans aren’t arsonists. Americans aren’t French revolutionaries taking to the barricades.”
By Julian E. Barnes and Mark Mazzetti
F.B.I. and Homeland Security make a show of force in Washington.
A column of F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security agents in riot gear entered the Dirksen Senate Office Building around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and officers from Washington’s police force headed to the Capitol in a show of force to end violent protests, looting and vandalism.
A Metropolitan Police commander instructed his officers to stay calm because “it could get crazy in there.”
The F.B.I. had previously considered sending officers to patrol Washington streets in the wake of protests last June, but ultimately decided not to deploy the agents for the planned rally.
By The New York Times
In Photos: Trump supporters go up and over to breach the Capitol.
The pro-Trump mob scaled walls, knocked over barriers and occupied the Capitol for hours. The unrest continued, even as President Trump asked for protesters to remain peaceful, and Vice President Mike Pence asked for the group to disperse.
By Sheera Frenkel
The storming of Capitol Hill was organized on social media.
Just after 1 p.m., when President Trump ended his speech to protesters in Washington by calling for them to march on Congress, hundreds of echoing calls to storm the building were made by his supporters online.
On social media sites requested by the far-right, such as Gab and Parler, directions on which streets to take to avoid the police and which tools to bring to help pry open doors were exchanged in comments. At least a dozen people posted about carrying guns into the halls of Congress.
Calls for violence against members of Congress and for pro-Trump movements to retake the Capitol building have been circulating online for months. Bolstered by Mr. Trump, who has courted fringe movements like QAnon and the Proud Boys, groups have openly organized on social media networks and recruited others to their cause.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Trump, after largely staying quiet as his supporters stormed the Capitol, tells them to go home.
After weeks of promoting Wednesday’s rally in Washington, and remaining largely quiet as his supporters violently stormed the Capitol, President Trump issued a video urging them to “go home in peace” even as he continued his false argument that the election had been stolen from him.
As a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol, breaking windows and forcing lawmakers and others to flee, Mr. Trump had avoided appearing publicly, instead urging his supporters twice on Twitter to respect law enforcement. He only issued a video after President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. called on him to publicly “demand an end to this siege”
In the video posted to Twitter, Mr. Trump told his supporters “You have to go home now,” and said that “we have to have peace.” But he also spent a large portion of the video falsely claiming that the election was fraudulent.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
President-elect Biden calls on Trump to ‘demand an end to this siege.’
President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Trump supporters’ breach of the Capitol building was “an assault on the rule of law like few times we’ve ever seen it” and called on President Trump to immediately denounce the mob that had overrun the building, vandalized offices and forced lawmakers to evacuate.
“At this hour, our democracy’s under an unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times,” Mr. Biden said at a news conference in Delaware. “An assault on the citadel of liberty, the Capitol itself.”
Mr. Biden expressly demanded that Mr. Trump, who in recent days had encouraged his supporters to rally in Washington, to go on television and publicly “demand an end to this siege”
By Katie Benner, Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt
An explosive device is found at the R.N.C., and the D.N.C. is evacuated.
An explosive device was found at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee in Washington and the nearby headquarters of the Democratic National Committee was evacuated after the discovery of a suspicious package on Wednesday, according to three people briefed on the discoveries.
The device that was found at the R.N.C. was a pipe bomb that was successfully destroyed by a bomb squad, according to an official for the R.N.C.
The package at the D.N.C. has yet to be identified, according to a top Democrat briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
The R.N.C. and D.N.C. are headquartered just a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol.
The New York Times
In Photos: Chaos inside the chambers of Congress.
By Helene Cooper
The Army activates the D.C. National Guard.
The Army activated 1,100 troops of the D.C. National Guard, an Army official said Wednesday, and Virginia’s governor dispatched members of the Virginia Guard along with 200 Virginia State Troopers to quell the violence in the nation’s capital.
The troops are being sent to the D.C. Armory to be deployed to the Capitol and to other points around Washington.
Defense and administration officials said it was Vice President Mike Pence, not President Trump, who approved the order to deploy. It was unclear why Mr. Trump, who is still technically the commander in chief, did not give the order.
By Erin Schaff and Sabrina Tavernise
Marauding protesters vandalize Speaker Pelosi’s office.
Scenes of looting in the Capitol roiled Republicans and Democrats, who pleaded with President Trump to intervene.
Pro-Trump protesters stormed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s august suite of offices, flipping over tables and pulling photos off the walls.
In the basement “crypt” of the Capitol, hundreds of Trump supporters shouted “U-S-A, U-S-A,” creating a roar in the building. Shattered windows left glass scattered on wet floors.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Trump calls for ‘peaceful’ protests and Pence asks crowd to leave Capitol.
President Trump, who faced criticism for not doing enough to end the violence at the Capitol, posted a second tweet calling for protesters to “remain peaceful” as his supporters stormed the Capitol. Vice President Mike Pence went a step beyond that, asking the crowd to leave the Capitol building.
“I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful,” Mr. Trump wrote. “No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order — respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”
Mr. Pence posted two messages shortly after Mr. Trump’s tweet. “The violence and destruction taking place at the US Capitol Must Stop and it Must Stop Now,” he tweeted. “Anyone involved must respect Law Enforcement officers and immediately leave the building.” In a reply to that tweet, he said “Peaceful protest is the right of every American but this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Sabrina Tavernise
Protesters roam the halls of the Capitol, breaking into offices.
Trump supporters, many of them wearing camouflage clothing, breached entrances on the east side of the Capitol, marched directly through the magnetometers and slammed the wooden doors inside.
Swarms of protesters roamed the halls, taking photos and breaking into offices. A man was smoking pot in a room where there were photos of mountains and maps of Oregon on the wall. A man put a framed photo of the Dalai Lama in his backpack. A man in a leather jacket ripped a scroll with Chinese characters.
Outside, people banged on the glass windows of the Capitol, breaking some panes. Crowds pressed past the front columns. People shouted at empty rooms inside with computer monitors on desks and empty chairs.
By Catie Edmondson
‘This is insane.’ Lawmakers speak out.
Democratic lawmakers said the Capitol Police had instructed them to take cover on the floor and prepare to use gas masks after tear gas was dispersed in the rotunda of the Capitol.
“This is insane,” tweeted Representative Dean Phillips, Democrat of Minnesota.
As protesters circled the House chamber, Representative Steve Cohen, Democrat of Tennessee, yelled out to Republicans: “Call Trump, tell him to call off his revolutionary guards.”
The New York Times
Police draw guns inside the Capitol.
Police officers drew their guns inside the House chamber on Wednesday after pro-Trump protesters broke into the Capitol building and thousands swarmed the steps outside.
Images from the scene showed at least two officers aiming their guns toward the doors of the chamber, which appeared to be barricaded with some kind of large desk. There appeared to be several holes in the door.7 hours ago
By Jonathan Martin
Mitt Romney, on his way to a secure location, says, ‘This is what the president has caused.’
As the entire Senate was hustled into the Capitol basement by uniformed police officers, Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah and a prominent critic of the president’s, summoned a reporter as he was ushered with other lawmakers into a secure location.
“This is what the president has caused today, this insurrection,” Mr. Romney said.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Trump says ‘stay peaceful’ as his supporters storm the Capitol.
President Trump on Twitter urged his supporters to “stay peaceful” in his first statement after pro-Trump protesters stormed into the Capitol building in Washington, halting the certification of the electoral vote.
By Anna Moneymaker For The New York Times
In Photos: Angry protesters and broken windows inside Statuary Hall.
Here is a look at the scene inside the Capitol, where protesters marched through Statuary Hall and broke windows on Wednesday.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Washington’s mayor issues a 6 p.m. curfew.
As pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol building, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a citywide curfew starting at 6 p.m.
No one is allowed to walk or drive in “any street, alley, park, or other public space” between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., Ms. Bowser, a Democrat, said on Twitter.
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Jonathan Martin
‘Lock the door’: The scene inside and outside the Capitol.
Protesters with Trump flags breached the Capitol, forcing the closure of the Senate chamber. Senate pages were herded to the back of the room, as Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, could be heard yelling, “Lock the door.”
Dozens of Trump supporters rushed to the East Front entrance to the Senate side of the Capitol, including some who repeatedly hit the locked doors with batons and poles. One played a recording of President Trump’s false claims of election fraud on a speaker. Another shouted, “We will not take it anymore.”
“Arrest Congress!” a woman in a flag scarf shouted.
Outside, at around 2:15 p.m., a protester clad in all black breached police lines on the West Front of the Capitol, popping up behind the police to cheers in the crowd. For about two minutes, the man exhorted protesters before the police chased him back into the crowd.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Pro-Trump protesters break into the Capitol building.
Scores of protesters in pro-Trump attire breached the Capitol building and neared the Senate floor on Wednesday afternoon as thousands cheered and clashed with police in front of the building.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Police brush back protesters during clash.
Thousands of protesters carrying Trump flags and shouting “You swore an oath” repeatedly clashed with police officers, tearing down a tarp and climbing over scaffolding as they surged toward the door of the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon.
Live videos from the scene showed officers spraying some type of substance at protesters, and at one point a group of protesters grabbed a metal fence away from police officers in riot gear.
Many of the maskless protesters waved American flags as they swore at the officers and at times surged forward, leading to scuffles. The videos showed people tear back a white tarp and hang on metal scaffolding just in front of the Capitol building as thousands of others cheered them on.
“Stop the steal,” they shouted as they moved past the large columns of the Capitol building and toward a door.1:54 p.m. Jan. 6, 2021
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Thousands of Trump supporters, chanting ‘Stop the Steal,’ confront police around the Capitol.
Thousands of Trump supporters swarmed the Capitol around 1 p.m. hoisting Trump flags and shouting “Stop The Steal.”
Some stood outside of the Capitol helping peers climb over a stone hedge and walk across the front lawn. “Don’t just stand there, march forward,” one woman shouted.
The New York Times
‘We will never concede.’ Photos from Trump’s rally in Washington.
President Trump stoked tensions during a rally near the White House on Wednesday.
“We will never concede,” he said to thousands of supporters who came to protest the results of the election, in which President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. received more than seven million votes more than Mr. Trump did, resulting in 306 electoral votes.
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Sabrina Tavernise
Tensions grow as the police attempt to disperse the crowd.
Hundreds of pro-Trump demonstrators gathered on the Capitol’s west steps when, at 1:20 p.m., police began firing what appeared to be flash-bang grenades into the air to disperse the crowd.
Rather than disperse, the protesters cheered and shouted, “push forward, push forward.”
One protester shouted, “That’s our house,” meaning the Capitol.
Hundreds of protesters began pressing against a barrier separating the police from the crowd on the Capitol steps, as a half-dozen protesters exhorted the crowd to press toward the building.
The crowd grew larger, many of them chanting, “1776, 1776.”
Amid the turmoil, an older man from Alabama collapsed. Medical personnel rushed to his aid, starting chest compressions. His condition is unknown.
A man in his 60s, from Atlanta, identifying himself as Emory, was rinsing his eyes with milk and water.
“They pepper sprayed me, and I wasn’t doing anything,” said Emory, his eyes and face puffy and red.
“They’re doing tear gas up there on the steps,” said Emory’s son, Vance. “It was a police officer. He said, ‘Get away from the barrier,’ but we weren’t even touching it.”
Inside, Representative Haley Stevens, Democrat of Michigan, reported on Twitter that she was sheltering in place, while other buildings in the Capitol complex have been evacuated.