Four people died and 52 were arrested after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.
Libby Hogan reports.
Police said four people died and over fifty people were arrested after hundreds of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday (January 6) in a bid to overturn his election defeat.
Washington D.C.
Police chief Robert J.
Contee said the arrests related to breaking a 6 p.m curfew, as well as charges related to carrying unlicensed or prohibited firearms. Contee declined to identify a woman a Capitol Police officer shot and killed, but graphic video that Reuters has chosen to blur inside the Capitol showed what appeared to be police attempting to treat her.
He added that three others died because of medical emergencies and 14 police officers were injured - two of whom remain hospitalized.
D.C police chief Robert J.
Contee: "The Metropolitan Police department's internal affairs division is currently investigating this matter as we investigate all officer involved deaths in the district of Columbia, including ones from other agencies.
This is a tragic incident." Two pipe bombs were also found in the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic National Committees and a cooler with molotov cocktails from a vehicle close to the grounds.
After hours of chaos police battled to regain control, before lawmakers finally returned to congress.
The number of people arrested is expected to grow but early numbers pale in comparison to the more than 300 arrests made following the June 1 protests last year, over the police killing of Black man George Floyd.
The Capitol Police are facing questions about why they didn't do more to secure the Capitol and let many of the rioters later exit the building without arrests.
D.C.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said police intend to ask the public for help in identifying rioters, many of whom posed for photos inside the Capitol.
