How a Pro-Trump Rally Turned Into a Violent Mob at the U.S. Capitol

The violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday will reverberate through American politics for years if not decades to come, reshape global perceptions about the strength of U.S. democracy and become an enduring emblem of the Trump era.

Images of mobs storming the building, police drawing guns while barricading the door to the House chamber, and protesters sauntering across the Senate floor showed the seat of American self-governance under siege. The final act of a turbulent presidency became a frightening illustration of threats to the nation’s democracy.

Leading Republicans finally began to recoil from a president most had been loath to publicly criticize after Trump egged on the protesters shortly before they marched to the Capitol, and then delayed speaking out against the chaos.

There were at least four deaths during the mayhem Wednesday, with one woman shot, city police reported. Lawmakers fled the House and Senate chambers, some in gas masks, as rioters carrying Trump flags and Confederate banners breached the building. Extremists posted pictures on Twitter they said were taken in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, with some carting off items from the suite and one man later displaying a piece of mail he said he had grabbed.

National Guard troops and other federal law-enforcement personnel were called in to help clear the Capitol, which was occupied for about four hours. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser imposed a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on the entire city.

Congress had to suspend a debate over objections to the Electoral College vote from Arizona that was lodged by Republican allies of Trump -- part of the president’s attack on the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Once the Capitol had been cleared, congressional leaders decided to resume the debate in the evening, with senators escorted back into their chamber by FBI personnel in full body armor.

Hours after the takeover began -- and after politicians from both sides of the aisle demanded he call for the mob to disperse -- Trump released a video urging the extremists to “go home.” But he also told them, “We love you,” and repeated false claims that the election was “stolen.” In a later tweet, he praised them as “Great Patriots.” Twitter Inc. later locked his account for 12 hours for “severe violations.” Facebook Inc. blocked him from posting for 24 hours.

Even during the Civil War and the height of domestic tumult over the Vietnam War, demonstrators never took over the centers of American power. Yet the Capitol on Wednesday was overrun for the first time since the War of 1812 -- when it fell to invading British troops -- at the very moment that votes were being ceremonially counted for the presidential election, America’s quadrennial exercise in the peaceful transfer of power.

The day’s events seemed almost incomprehensible in a long-established Western democracy, and spurred charges of an attempted coup. More than one politician drew parallels to political unrest in Latin American or the Middle East.

Comments from foreign leaders eerily echoed the kind of rhetoric U.S. officials often deploy to cajole authoritarian regimes to accept a loss of power. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it is “vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power” in the U.S. The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Fontelles, said the Nov. 3 election results “must be fully respected.”

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world.

To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app.

Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake

Connect with us on…

Breaking News on YouTube