President-elect Joe Biden addressed the nation a few minutes earlier, saying he was “shocked and saddened” by the riot. He asked for calm in the US Capital, saying “enough is enough.”
Lawmakers were inside conducting a ceremonial vote count to affirm Biden’s win. The building had to be evacuated as the mob gained access.
Jason Opal, chair of McGill University’s Department of History and Classical Studies, called the violence in Washington, DC, Wednesday unprecedented.
“The president directly incited an armed crowd to surge into the very centre of the republic, with the intention of carrying out a coup d’état,” he said. “We can only hope that the Capitol Hill police or National Guard can restore order – and restart Congress – without violence.”