COLUMBIA, S.C. — The U.S. Attorney in South Carolina says he'll prosecute people from the state who may have been involved in Tuesday's siege at the U.S. Capitol.
"Let me be perfectly clear: Federal crimes were violated today at our Nation’s Capitol building," said U.S. Attorney Peter McCoy Jr. "Anyone who traveled from the District of South Carolina with intent to aid this travesty or commit acts of destruction will be prosecuted by [my office]."
The job of the [US Attorney] is substantial but simple: defend the Constitution, impartially enforce the rule of law, & protect the public against all enemies foreign AND domestic. Those who gather for purposes of violence & destruction should be prosecuted to the fullest extent.
The riot interrupted Congress’ Electoral College count that will formalize Biden’s upcoming inauguration on Jan. 20. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the joint session would resume Wednesday night.
A mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House.
The National Guard and state and federal police were called in for control, and the mayor of Washington imposed a rare evening curfew. A woman who was shot inside the Capitol during the violence has died, a source told the Associated Press.
The Trump supporters were egged on by the president and his false attacks on the integrity of the November presidential election. While rallying his supporters outside the White House Wednesday morning, he urged them to march to the Capitol. But later — hours after they fought police and breached the building — he told them that although they were "very special people” and he backed their cause, they should “go home in peace.”
President-elect Biden, two weeks away from being inaugurated, had declared in Wilmington, Delaware: "I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege,”
Biden said that democracy was ’“under unprecedented assault," a sentiment echoed by many in Congress, including some Republicans.
The violent riot halted Congress’ constitutionally mandated counting of the Electoral College results, in which Biden defeated Trump, 306-232.