WASHINGTON (AP) The police were badly outnumbered.
Only a few dozen guarded the West front of the U.S. Capitol when they were rushed by thousands of violent demonstrators bent on breaking into the building.
Armed with metal pipes, pepper spray and other weapons, the mob pushed past the thin police line, and one protester hurled a fire extinguisher at a officer, according to video widely circulated on YouTube.
“They’re getting into the Capitol tonight! They’re getting in,” the man filming shouts in delight.
They breached the line moments later, and rioters soon broke into the building, taking over the House and Senate chambers and running wild in Statuary Hall and other hallowed symbols of democracy. The mob ransacked the place, smashing windows and waving Trump, American and Confederate flags. The lawmakers who were voting to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory were forced into hiding for hours.
Police charged more Capitol rioters on Saturday, including a man who carried off the House speaker’s lectern, as more graphic details of the insurrection em
WASHINGTON (AP) The police were badly outnumbered. Only a few dozen guarded the West front of the U.S. Capitol when they were rushed by thousands of pro-Trump rioters bent on breaking into the building. Armed with metal pipes, pepper spray and other weapons, the mob pushed past the thin police line, and one rioter hurled a fire extinguisher at.