Federal Protective Service and Secret Service agents are being deployed to the U.S. Capitol, Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli confirmed to CBS News Wednesday as supporters of President Donald Trump staged an attempted coup, breaching the walls of the U.S. Capitol while Congress attempted to certify the Electoral College votes won by President-elect Joe Biden in November’s election.
As the U.S. Capitol Police failed to stop the crowd from storming the building, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted that the National Guard was also on the way to support along with “other federal protective services.”
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D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine issued a statement urging the president tell his supporters to stand down and leave the Capitol, noting that in his brief statements on Twitter, Trump has only asked that they “remain peaceful.” Racine said in a statement, “We call on President Trump to immediately tell his supporters, who are trampling on the District of Columbia and have breached the U.S. Capitol, to cease and desist and return from whence they came in a peaceful manner. The United States of America is the world’s greatest democracy, and that rests on a peaceful transition of power.”
“We urge President Trump to do what he has not yet done, but what he must do: order his supporters to leave the District of Columbia and fully embrace the transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris,” Racine continued, adding that all D.C. residents must remain at home and “under no circumstance should anyone travel downtown nor be in the vicinity of federal buildings.” The D.C. curfew goes into effect at 6 p.m.
Trump’s statements on the violence came after rioters had already breached the walls of the Capitol. “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!” he tweeted initially, adding later, “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”
Just moments before his message on the violence, Trump denounced Vice President Mike Pence for refusing to reject the electoral votes that paved the way for Biden’s victory, writing on Twitter that his VP “didn’t have the courage” to do what he had previously urged. Defying Trump, Pence previously said in a letter to his congressional colleagues, “It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not.”
