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January 6, 2021WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, putting the building on lockdown and interrupting the count of electoral votes to certify the 2020 election, capping the last days of a tumultuous presidency with chaos.
Much of the country, and the world, watched aghast at scenes coming out of the nation's capital after Vice President Mike Pence said he had no authority to change the results of the election, affirming President-elect Joe Biden as the next commander-in-chief.
Lawmakers, including the vice president, were rushed to safety after the angry mob broke into the building. Images on Twitter showed them breaking down doors and some asking the whereabouts of the vice president, who was said to have defied Trump by refusing to block Congress from certifying the results. With "Trump 2020" flags, they freely roamed the halls of the capitol as scared lawmakers crowded together to pray, some reported.
News reports also said explosive devices were found at the national offices for the Republican and Democratic parties and at least one person was shot.
"It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not," Pence wrote lawmakers in a letter just before a joint session of Congress to tally the Electoral College count, raising Trump's ire.
Pence ended the letter with "so help me God."
Hours earlier, Trump had publicly urged Pence via Twitter to refute congressional certification of the results, even though Biden won the popular as well as the electoral vote.
"States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval," Trump tweeted, prompting Twitter to flag the tweet as a claim about election fraud that "is disputed."
"All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!" the president continued.
After Pence refused, the president attacked him on Twitter.
"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,"
Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement the evening of Jan. 6 saying he joined "people of good will in condemning the violence today at the United States Capitol."
"This is not who we are as Americans," he said, adding that he is praying for members of Congress, Capitol Hill staff members, police officers "and all those working to restore order and public safety."
