US Vice President Mike Pence has spoken out against rioters who stormed the Capitol, telling them “you did not win” as Congress reconvened to resume the process of certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.
Politicians resumed business on Wednesday night local time, hours after Donald Trump supporters broke down barricades and swarmed inside the Capitol amid a session to count electoral votes and confirm the November election result.
One woman died in unclear circumstances after being shot inside the Capitol and others were injured, police said, with politicians evacuated and handed protective masks as police fired tear gas.
Mr Pence, speaking as he reopened the Senate session, said the world would “again witness the resilience and strength of our democracy”.
“To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins, freedom wins,” Mr Pence said “And this is still the people’s house.”
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, another Republican, vowed to certify the winner of the 3 November election before the end of the night.
“While the nation is at war or peace, under all manner of threats, even during an ongoing armed rebellion and the civil war, the clock work of our democracy has carried on,” Mr McConnell said.
“The United States and the United States Congress have faced down much greater threats than the unhinged crowd we saw today.
“They tried to disrupt our democracy, they failed. They failed. They failed to attempt to obstruct the congress, this failed insurrection only underscores how crucial the task before us is, for our republic.”
A number of senators who said they had intended to support objections to the certification of electoral votes reversed course following the violence, including Kelly Loeffler, who on Tuesday lost her special election in Georgia in a runoff that led to Democrats gaining control of the chamber.
“When I arrived in Washington this morning I fully intended to object to the certification of electoral votes,” Ms Loeffler said during the debate.
“However, the events that have transpired today have forced me to reconsider, and I cannot in good conscience object to the certification of these electors.”
Utah Senator Mitt Romney, another Republican, commended Ms Loeffler and other colleagues who had decided against objecting in the wake of the unrest.
He said it had been a “heartbreaking” day, and they gathered “due to a selfish man’s injured pride, and the outrage of supporters who he had deliberately misinformed for the past two months”.
“What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the president of the United States,” Mr Romney said.
“Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate, democratic election, will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy.”
The resumption of Congress came after after House speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote to colleagues, saying they would not be deterred from achieving their purpose after “a shameful assault was made on our democracy”.
Her own office was infiltrated, with one Trump supporter in jeans and a baseball cap pictured propping a leg up on her desk, where a threatening note was left.
A Trump supporter sits at the desk of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
EPA
“We always knew this responsibility would take is into the night,” Ms Pelosi’s letter read. “The night may still be long but we are hopeful for a shorter agenda, but our purpose will be accomplished.”
“We also know that we would be a part of history in a positive way, today, despite ill-founded objections to the Electoral College vote. We now will be part of history, as such a shameful picture of our country was put out to the world, instigated at the highest level.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who Tweeted that she was okay after being barricaded in for several hours, said they had to focus on the task at hand: “To preserve the integrity of our democracy, hold accountable those responsible for their attempts to subvert our nation’s elections and shred our Constitution apart”.
The Democrat also joined calls to impeach Mr Trump following the extraordinary scenes on Wednesday.
‘Dangerous and unacceptable’
US Democratic Senator Ed Markey and Democratic representatives Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar were also among those calling for the president’s impeachment, resignation, or removal from office by other means.
“Donald J. Trump should immediately be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate as soon as Congress reconvenes,” Ms Pressley wrote on Twitter.
“This is dangerous & unacceptable.”
Ms Omar, meanwhile, said she was drawing up articles of impeachment, saying Mr Trump couldn’t remain in office.
Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a member of the Republican Party, said Mr Trump should resign or be removed from office by his Cabinet, or by Congress, after attacking “the fabric of our democracy and the principles of our republic”.
“There is no doubt that the president’s delusion, fabrication, self-interest and ego had led us – step by step – to this very low, and very dangerous, moment in history,” Mr Scott wrote on Twitter.
With reporting by AFP.
