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Trump supporters used chemical irritants on police to break into Capitol

The police chief of Washington, DC, says pro-Trump protesters deployed chemical irritants on police in order to break into the US Capitol

Donald trump supporters, UNITED STATES, US

Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest the presidential election results in Washington

AP Washington

The police chief of Washington, DC, says pro-Trump protesters deployed chemical irritants on police in order to break into the US Capitol.

Police Chief Robert Contee says officials have declared the scene a riot. One civilian was shot inside the Capitol on Wednesday. Thirteen arrests were made of people from out of the area.

Mayor Muriel Bowser says the behaviour of the Trump supporters was shameful, unpatriotic and above all is unlawful.

She says,There will be law and order and this behaviour will not be tolerated.

Metropolitan police have been sent to the Capitol, and authorities were coming in from Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey to help out. The National Guard was also deployed, as were Homeland Security investigators and Secret Service.

 

Trump had encouraged his supporters to come to Washington to fight Congress formal approval of President-elect Joe Biden's win. He held a rally earlier Wednesday and urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, telling them to get rid of the weak Congress people and saying, get the weak ones get out; this is the time for strength.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: Jan 07 2021 | 7:28 AM IST

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