Trump supporters gesture to U.S. Capitol Police in the hallway outside of the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
A mob invading the U.S. Capitol. Police officers with guns drawn inside the House of Representatives. Lawmakers hiding from intruders seeking to overturn a national election.
These and other scenes from Capitol Hill shocked the world Wednesday as violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the nation’s halls of power in a brazen attempt to undercut democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House in two weeks.
Trump supporters gesture to U.S. Capitol Police in the hallway outside of the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Pro-Trump supporters storm the US Capitol on Jan. 6 (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
U.S. Capitol Police with guns drawn stand near a barricaded door as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
U.S. Capitol Police hold protesters at gun-point near the House Chamber inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Police with guns drawn watch as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. As Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, thousands of people have gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump and his claims of election fraud. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Protesters walk as U.S. Capitol Police officers watch in a hallway near the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, near the Ohio Clock. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Trump supporters walk past the Dome of the Capitol Building in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Vice President Mike Pence talk before a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to count the Electoral College votes cast in November’s election, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The chaos halted Congress’ constitutionally mandated counting of the Electoral College results, which showed Biden defeated Trump, 306-232.
In the morning, Trump rallied his supporters outside the White House and urged them to march to the Capitol. Hours later, after they fought police and breached the building, he told them to “go home in peace.” He described them as “very special people” whose cause he supported.
Biden, speaking from Wilmington, Delaware, called on Trump to go on national television to demand “an end to this siege.”
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