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Smart Talk: U.S. Capitol breached as Congress is counting electoral votes

Many blame Trump's rhetoric for inciting violence

  • Scott LaMar
Trump supporters stand on top of a police vehicle, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. As Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, thousands of people have gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump and his claims of election fraud.

 Julio Cortez / AP Photo

Trump supporters stand on top of a police vehicle, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. As Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, thousands of people have gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump and his claims of election fraud.

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What started as a mass demonstration against what the protestors falsely called a fraudulent 2020 presidential election turned into chaos and a dangerous attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. Wednesday. A joint session of Congress was meeting to count the votes certified from the states that would have elected Joe Biden as president.

Before what Washington Metro police called a riot, President Donald Trump spoke at a rally where he again falsely claimed he won the election. Many blamed Trump for inciting the protestors.

Members of Congress were evacuated before the vote was completed.

Rioters broke through security gates, broke windows, confronted police and wandered around the floors of the House and Senate and in the offices of members of Congress. Four people are reported killed.

Some 140 Republican House members, including eight from Pennsylvania, and 13 Republican Senators planned to object to several states’ electoral votes being accepted. Most denounced the violence but none said their objections led to the attack on the Capitol.

Thursday’s Smart Talk focuses on a historic and infamous day in American history with Shirley Anne Warshaw, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science and Director of the Fielding Center for Presidential Leadership Study at Gettysburg College, Fletcher McClellan, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science at Elizabethtown College, and Simona Kralova, editor on BBC Monitoring, to gauge international reaction to events.

 

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