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LIVE: Trump tells violent supporters to 'go home in peace'

Posted at 11:41 AM, Jan 06, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-06 17:47:52-05

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump called in the National Guard after violent protests broke out inside and outside the US Capitol on Wednesday.

One person was shot as protesters breached the heavily-secured building and forced the evacuation of the Senate and House of Representatives, forcing a delay in the constitutional process to affirm Joe Biden’s victory in the November election.

A protester got up on the dais inside the Senate chamber and yelled “Trump won that election,” while several dozen are roaming through the halls, yelling, “Where are they?”

Trump called on protesters to go home in a video posted to Twitter.

"I know your pain, I know you're hurt, we had an election that was stolen from us," President Donald Trump begins a message on Twitter Wednesday evening. "But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order."

"I know how you feel. Go home, go home in peace."

Twitter has put a warning on Trump's tweet because of his baseless claims about the election.

Trump also tweeted to his supporters to “stay peaceful” as they violently clash with law enforcement.

“Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement,” Trump tweeted, as tear gas was deployed in the locked-down Capitol. “They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”

Members of Congress inside the House chamber were told by police to put on gas masks after tear gas was dispersed in the Capitol Rotunda.

Law enforcement instructed lawmakers to retrieve masks from under their seats amid the clashes.

Videos showed protesters breaking through barriers and making their way towards the Capitol building.

READ: Trump: 'We will never give up, we will never concede'

Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., has ordered a curfew in the nation’s capital beginning at 6 p.m.

Several altercations with police are seen as Trump supporters throw objects at law enforcement and climb onto a nearby tower.

READ: McConnell: If Congress overturns election results, it would send democracy into 'death spiral'

People are telling protesters to "move forward and we can beat them."

Staffers working in the Cannon House Office Building and Madison Building, which houses the Library of Congress, have been told to evacuate due to the protests.

In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s rally, officials in Washington had taken steps to curb any potential violence relating to the event.

Time reported that more than 300 D.C. National Guard troops had taken positions near the capitol building, though Bowser had asked they not be armed in an effort to avoid the escalation of confrontation.