Violence in US Capitol, pro-Trump protesters disrupt Electoral College vote

• Democrats win runoff, set to control Senate

Supporters of President Donald Trump seeking to overturn his 2020 presidential poll loss stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday and attacked police.

They disrupted electoral vote as members of Congress who had convened to certify the vote were forced to leave the building.

The proceedings had barely begun when the protesters breached security perimeters at the Capitol, putting the building on lockdown.

Lawmakers inside the House chamber were told to wear gas masks and lay on the floor as Capitol police released tear gas, then evacuated from the building.

US Rep, Haley Stevens, D-Bloomfield Township, told MLive that she felt safe inside her office shortly before 2pm. But less than an hour later, protesters breached the Capitol building and sparred with police.

Michigan lawmakers provided live updates through social media as the situation escalated.

Several Michigan House Democrats were evacuated from the Cannon office building, including the US Rep, Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township.

“Chamber security and Capitol Police have their guns drawn as protesters bang on the front door of the chamber,” said Rep Dan Kildee, D-Flint, in a tweet. “This is not a protest. This is an attack on America.”

President-elect Joe Biden stepped out in to condemn the violent protests.

“President Trump, step up,” Biden said, urging him to stop what he called an insurrection.

Trump later called on the protesters to go home in peace as they had registered their feelings.

Levin also described it as “an assault on democracy itself” in a Facebook video but added Congress would not be stopped from certifying the vote of electors.

“My understanding is that the Capitol Police had to use tear gas to try and clear Statuary Hall,; they had to evacuate the floor of the House of Representatives,” Levin said. “It’s a disaster for our democracy, what is going on now, but we’re not going to let them succeed.”

According to pool reports, Vice President Mike Pence was removed from the Senate chamber, where he had been presiding over the certification.

Rep Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, said he was “horrified and shell-shocked by the violence of rioters” in a tweet.

Reps. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, and Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, denounced violent protests and attacks on police in separate statements on Twitter. Both had planned to vote in support of objecting electoral votes in some states.

Hours before the vote, Michigan’s Democratic representatives in Congress warned that Republicans ready to challenge electoral votes in several swing states could cause lasting damage to American democracy.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, said political division was the single biggest threat to national security, outweighing any threat from a foreign nation.

“The prospect of Americans not believing in democracy is extremely dangerous,” Slotkin said.”We are a diverse complicated country and if we don’t all believe in this system, and we start separating ourselves from it, you can see how it becomes chaotic.”

Meanwhile, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock won the Georgia Senate runoff, US networks projected Wednesday, guaranteeing their party control of the body.

Ossoff defeated incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue with a nearly 25,000-vote margin, or 0.56 per cent, with 98 per cent of the expected vote counted, NBC and ABC projected.

His win, after fellow Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated Republican Kelly Loeffler in a parallel runoff election Tuesday, gave both parties 50 seats in the Senate.

With the chamber evenly split, Democratic Vice-president elect Kamala Harris will play the role of the tie-breaker, giving Democrats control of the Senate as well as the House of Representatives.