Backers of outgoing US President Donald Trump remain outside the US Capitol, where a heated protest rally saw demonstrators storm the building, prompting a city-wide curfew and National Guard deployments.
Despite DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s 6pm curfew order, a massive crowd of Trump supporters continued to demonstrate at the Capitol on Wednesday evening, seen in footage captured by RT’s video agency, Ruptly.
As authorities work to clear the Capitol, the DC National Guard has been “fully activated,” according to acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, joining other Guard troops earlier deployed across DC in anticipation of unrest at a rally planned for Wednesday.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has also sent both Guard soldiers and state troopers to assist local law enforcement.
The breach at the Capitol saw the building placed under lockdown and Congress thrown into recess as lawmakers attempted to certify Electoral College votes for the 2020 race, which Trump and his allies insist was marred by endemic fraud. It is unclear when the vote-counting process will resume.
As protesters attempted to storm the Senate chamber, a woman was shot. She was later seen leaving the building on a stretcher and is reportedly in critical condition.
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