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President-elect Joe Biden called for an end to the “siege” of the U.S. Capitol after hundreds of President Trump’s supporters fought with police, broke into the building and forced lawmakers to seek safety.
In a short speech from Delaware, broadcast on television networks, Biden said the unprecedented chaos in and around the capitol building “must end now.”
He called on Trump to fulfill his constitutional authority, defend the capitol and demand that his supporters leave.
Enough is enough is enough, ” he added, turning to face the camera again, as he walked away from the podium.
Trump supporters smashed windows to get into the capitol building early in the afternoon after leaving a rally the president held near the White House. They flooded the halls and in some cases removed objects as they left.
The unrest caused House members and senators to postpone a joint session in the Capitol to certify Biden’s election as president. Never in U.S history has the capitol been breached.
Many Trump supporters were still milling in and about the Capitol building as evening approached and an increasing number of police and other security personnel gathered. The mayor of Washington, D.C. also declared a 6 p.m. curfew.
Saying the “words of a president matter,” Biden urged Trump to go on national TV and tell the protestors to leave.
Minutes later, Trump released a video asking his supporters to “Go home. Go home in peace,” but only after repeating his unfounded charges that the election was “stolen.”
See also: Watch: Hundreds of Trump supporters storm Capitol Hill, break fences and fight with police
