Four persons lost their lives while 52 others were injured in the chaos which followed Trump’s supporters protest at Washington on Wednesday, D.C. Police Chief, Robert Contee has said.
According to him, the four fatalities include a woman who was shot by the U.S. Capitol Police, as well as three others — two men and one woman — who died in “separate medical emergencies.”
Police also arrested over 52 persons including 26 on U.S. Capitol grounds, he said.
Contee added that least 14 Metropolitan Police Department Officers were injured during the demonstrations.
He added that two pipe bombs were also recovered by police, he said.
The world had watched in horror as hundreds of supporters of President Trump breached security and scaled the steps of the building where lawmakers were due to certify president-elect Joe Biden’s win in the November election.
Hours earlier, Trump riled up his supporters repeating baseless allegations of election fraud and encouraged them to march to the Capitol.
The Senate and House of Representatives abruptly called off their sessions, where they had been debating Republican challenges to results in U.S. states that Biden won, as the building went into lockdown.
Congress reconvened in the evening, with senators from both sides of the aisle condemning the violence and vowing to complete the certification process.
Washington Mayor, Muriel Bowser, announced a 15-day extension of the public emergency she declared earlier in the day “so that we can continue to ensure peace and security through the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.”
She added, “Today may be a dark day for our democracy, but there is hope and change coming.”