US President Donald Trumps supporters gather outside the Capitol building in Washington D.C., United States on January 06, 2021.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A supporter of President Donald Trump carries a Conferderate battle flag on the second floor of the U.S. Capitol near the entrance to the Senate after breaching security defenses, in Washington, January 6, 2021.
Mike Theiler | Reuters
Trump, during a Wednesday rally outside the White House, encouraged thousands of supporters to march to the Capitol to protest what historically have been ceremonial proceedings.
Trump returned to the White House after his speech. During the subsequent rioting, Trump told supporters in a tweeted video “you have to go home now,” but he didn’t condemn the violence and continued to falsely claim he won the election.
Twitter later removed that tweet and locked the president’s account.
Supporters of President Donald Trump set off a fire extinguisher after breaching security defenses, as police move in on the demonstrate on the second floor of the U.S. Capitol near the entrance to the Senate, in Washington, January 6, 2021.
Mike Theiler | Reuters
In a statement Thursday, Department of Homeland Security’s acting secretary, Chad Wolf, called on Trump to “strongly condemn the violence,” calling the events “tragic and sickening.”
“This is unacceptable. These violent actions are unconscionable, and I implore the President and all elected officials to strongly condemn the violence that took place yesterday,” Wolf said.
“Any appearance of inciting violence by an elected official goes against who we are as Americans. Every American is guaranteed the right to peacefully protest, but once those protests become violent, we should enforce our laws and bring those responsible to justice—regardless of political motivations.”
In a tweet Wednesday, Wolf wrote that those who engaged in the rioting should be held accountable.
Other members of Trump’s Cabinet also issued harsh rebukes of the violence but stopped short of criticizing the president.
In a series of tweets Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the storming of the U.S. Capitol “unacceptable.”
“Lawlessness and rioting — here or around the world — is always unacceptable,” the nation’s top diplomat wrote. “Let us swiftly bring justice to the criminals who engaged in this rioting.”
Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said: “The violence to our Nation’s Capitol Building is an intolerable attack on a fundamental institution of our democracy.”
Earlier Wednesday, the Department of Justice sent hundreds of federal law enforcement officers and agents from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service to help quell protests.
