President Donald Trump has urged his supporters to abide by the law and go back home after they stormed the US Capitol building and violently clashed with police.
In a video message on his Twitter account, Trump again baselessly claimed that the election was "stolen" from him and that he won in a landslide.
I know your pain. I know you're hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home. Now we have to have peace. We have to have law and order, Trump said on Wednesday.
We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don't want anybody hurt. It's a very tough period of time. There's never been a time like this, where such a thing happened, where they could take it away from all of us. From me, from you, from our country, said the president.
He said nothing suggesting that the protesters had been wrong to invade the Capitol building.
This was a fraudulent election, but we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home at peace, Trump said.
Trump previously tweeted to his supporters to stay peaceful after they stormed the Capitol.
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The police had a tough time in managing the crowd, as hundreds of protesters made their way into the US Capitol, where members of the US Congress were going through the process of counting and certifying the Electoral College votes to affirm Joe Biden's victory in the November presidential election.
Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement, Trump tweeted after tear gas was used in the locked-down Capitol. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!
Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the Capitol when the building was breached, tweeted that the "violence and destruction taking place at the US Capitol Must Stop and it Must Stop Now."
Trump at a rally earlier in the day encouraged his supporters to head to the Capitol.