Demonstrations at the US Capitol building led to a suspension of Wednesday’s count of the 2020 Electoral College votes. A joint session of the House and Senate were meeting to certify electors in the final step ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration later this month.
The protestors breached the Capitol Building and led to Congress being locked down and lawmakers evacuated to safe locations.
First District Congressman James Comer released a statement that said he and his staff were safe and in an undisclosed location after evacuating the House floor when protestors made their way inside the Capitol. Comer said “the outrageous rioting and violence taking place at the Capitol Building is completely unacceptable and not who we are as a nation of law and order. Mob violence is wrong regardless of political affiliation.”
Kentucky’s junior U.S. Senator Rand Paul tweeted that “violence and mob rule is wrong and un-American, and it will not bring about election reform.” He said ‘today’s mayhem sets back any intelligent debate for a generation.”
Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger spoke to Fox News after being evacuated to a secure location. He had a message for protesters and his fellow lawmakers.
click to download audioKentucky Governor Andy Beshear called the protests an act of ‘domestic terrorism.
click to download audioEarlier in the day, Senator Mitch McConnell objected to Republican Congressional efforts to challenge the certification of Electoral College results.
click to download audioMcConnell will have to call the Senate back into session so the electoral college confirmation can continue.
The U.S. Capitol Historical Society said the Capitol was breached Wednesday for the first time since 1814 when the British attacked it and set it on fire during the war of 1812.
