The National Guard will respond at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday after pro-Trump rioters overran the building during the Electoral College vote count.
The Washington D.C. National Guard was mobilized to help federal law enforcement tamp down the insurrection, according to chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman. The Department of Justice will lead the federal law enforcement response, Hoffman said.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam also said he would send his state’s National Guard along with 200 state troopers to the Capitol. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan added that he told the Maryland National Guard to send a force to the federal legislature.
Both Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office asked for the National Guard to respond, two sources told NBC. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the National Guard was “on the way along with other federal protective services” on Wednesday afternoon.
Protesters spurred by President Donald Trump’s calls to overturn the 2020 presidential election entered the Capitol with relative ease Wednesday afternoon. They forced lawmakers, some of whom had to don gas masks to travel through clouds of tear gas, to evacuate to secure locations.
Trump supporters stand on the U.S. Capitol Police armored vehicle as others take over the steps of the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, as the Congress works to certify the electoral college votes.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The breach of the Capitol stopped the formal congressional count of President-elect Joe Biden’s presidential election victory over Trump. Dozens of Republicans in Congress, backed by the president, had started to challenge state results based on unfounded accusations of widespread fraud.
Trump spoke to his supporters Wednesday and again lied that he had won the election before they descended upon the Capitol. As rioters swarmed the building, Trump tweeted, “No violence!”
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
