Confederate Flag Flies Outside Senate Chamber as Protesters Storm the Capitol

Trump supporters flew a Confederate battle flag in the Capitol on Wednesday as they stormed the building. Photos of the scene showed the demonstrators brandishing the flag outside of the United States Senate chamber, as Capitol police tried desperately to contain the situation.

Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic posted a string of photos from within the Capitol building on Wednesday after Trump supporters got inside. The demonstrators somehow overcame the security forces, despite ample warnings that a major protest was coming. They shattered windows and destroyed other public property on their way inside.

Protesters have breached the Capitol. They’re outside the Senate chamber pic.twitter.com/I021tKliUD

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 6, 2021

A Confederate battle flag inside the U.S. Capitol was just one of the many shocking sights in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. Other flags were on display, including Trump 2020 and Trump 2024 campaign flags, "Don't Tread on Me" flags and "Blue Lives Matter" flags. The latter became grimly ironic as these demonstrators clashed with law enforcement throughout the afternoon.

According to a CNN report, some protesters even took control of maintenance scaffolding outside the building and tried to remove the American flag from the building and replace it with a Trump campaign flag. The flag poles themselves were a serious security concern, as they can be used as bludgeoning weapons in a tense situation. That problem has come up at other protests over the course of the last few years.

The mob marched straight from President Donald Trump's rally — where he promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election -- to the U.S. Capitol building. They clashed with police and clambered over barricades and fences, finally breaking their way into the capital building by force. This created a massive security risk, since these interlopers had not been through the building's metal detectors and other security measures.

The demonstrators made it inside and freely occupied the Capital building, vandalizing the offices of elected representatives and evading the police by sheer force of numbers. It took about an hour for the National Guard to be mobilized, according to a report by The Associated Press.

At the time of this writing, the Capital building is still occupied by at least some protesters, and others are still milling about freely outside the building. The president called on the demonstrators to go home, but emphasized his continued belief in his own election conspiracy theories. President-elect Joe Biden will take office on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.