Cry of revolt in halls of power

Americans were in disbelief as they watched their congress being overrun in what former Washington police chief Charles Ramsey said was ‘as close to a coup attempt as this country has ever seen’.

A police munition explodes in front of the US Capitol Building in Washington on Thursday. Picture: Reuters

The Donald Trump supporter with bullhorns on his head was standing near the White House yelling “This is our 1776, baby”, ­referring to the year of America’s independence.

I snapped a photo of him as the President nearby was urging thousands of protesters to march on congress to “stop the steal’’ of Joe Biden’s election win.

A few hours later, that same man with horns could be seen roaming the Capitol Building and standing at Vice-President Mike Pence’s chair in the Senate.

By that stage Americans were in disbelief as they watched their own congress being overrun in what former Washington police chief Charles Ramsey said was “as close to a coup attempt as this country has ever seen”.

At Trump’s urging, thousands of his supporters — spurred on by his fiery claims about the “rigged election” — did not just march to the Capitol but crashed through its doors and into its hallowed ­chambers. Some used ropes and makeshift ladders to climb the walls to get into the building. ­Others stood outside, singing the national ­anthem.

Protesters with Capitol Police inside the US Capitol Building on Thursday. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Within minutes the invading mob, some carrying Confederate flags and chanting “treason” and “our house”, were streaming through the gilded corridors of the seat of American political power, a sight never before seen.

Inside the Senate and House of Representatives chambers, where congress members had been ­debating the certification of Joe Biden’s election win, chaos ­unfolded. Capitol police drew their guns to keep protesters out as they plotted ways to keep the politicians safe.

Shortly after 2pm (6am AEDT), Pence — who was a target of protesters after he refused to back Trump’s call to overturn Biden’s election win — was safely evacuated.

In the Senate a policeman ­carrying a semi-automatic ­weapon stood between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Protesters storm US Capitol

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Nearby, senator Amy Klobuchar looked at her phone and yelled out “shots fired”.

A woman in the building, ­believed to be a protester, was later confirmed to have been shot in the neck. As she was loaded into an ambulance, in a critical condition, Trump supporters swarmed around it, yelling “murderers”. She later died.

After a tense 30 minutes, police evacuated the senators to a secure location.

In the house, a police officer told representatives to crawl under their chairs, as one Democrat, Dean Phillips, yelled at Republicans: “This is because of you.”

Police eventually moved members to the basement and into the networks of tunnels that link the Capitol to nearby office buildings.

The congressional leadership was evacuated to Fort McNair, an army base in southwest ­Washington.

Elsewhere, police in the building released pepper bombs and smoke bombs to disperse the crowd. Some of the Trump supporters who broke in the building were shouting obscenities. Others stood around taking photos like tourists, amazed that they were ­actually standing inside the ­Capitol. Some entered the offices of congressmen and sat in their chairs, putting their feet on the desk and taking selfies.

As this was unfolding Trump said initially nothing about the ­invasion of the Capitol, choosing instead to tweet criticism of Pence for refusing to unilaterally overturn Biden’s election victory.

This was too much for Republican representative Adam Kinzinger, who tweeted from the Capitol: “You are not protecting the country. Where is the DC guard? You are done and your ­legacy will be a disaster.’’

With the situation still out of control, Washington Mayor ­Muriel Bowser announced a 6pm curfew for the national capital as an extra 1100 National Guard troops were called out.

Biden then spoke, accusing the President of inciting a mob to storm congress.

“This is not dissent. It’s disorder, it’s chaos. It borders on ­sedition, and it must end now,” the president-elect said. Eventually Trump sent out two gently worded tweets urging people to be peaceful, claiming that Republicans were the “party of law and order”.

With the situation still uncertain, Trump then released a video in which he called the protesters “very special”.

“I know your pain, I know your hurt,” he said. “(But you) have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order.”

Eventually at 6pm, as the curfew kicked in, authorities declared that this extraordinary moment in the country’s history was over and they began slowly moving the ­rioters on. The Capitol was secure again.