At approximately 2:15 p.m., disorder broke out in the House and the Senate, as a group of protesters, led by a violent minority, breached the surprisingly thin security perimeter around the Capitol and entered it.
Trump, encouraged by the cockamamie legal theories advanced by such members of his legal team as Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, issued the following tweet at 2:24 p.m.: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”
Over the ensuing three hours, there was chaos inside the building, reported use of tear gas, guns drawn by security personnel, emergency evacuation of congressmen and others to secure areas and “undisclosed locations,” but fortunately little or no additional violence. Eventually, additional law enforcement personnel were brought in, and the Capitol was secured, essentially by the time the 6 p.m. curfew began. (One protester died after reportedly being shot by police.)
Why sufficient security had not been pre-positioned to maintain the integrity of the Capitol beforehand, is a question which many are now asking. The related question under investigation is just who incited the violent breach of the Congress.
