Police using tear gas, smoke grenades to clear Capitol grounds ahead of curfew

The U.S. Capitol has been secured after authorities deployed smoke grenades and tear gas to steer pro-Trump rioters away from the government building ahead of a curfew imposed by D.C. starting at 6 p.m., according to CNN. 

The House sergeant-at-arms confirmed the building was cleared around 5:40 p.m. on Wednesday, the news agency reports.

The news comes a little more than four hours after supporters of the president descended on the Capitol to protest the presidential election results. Congress had convened to begin the Electoral College certification process that would affirm President-elect Joe Biden won the November election.

It wasn’t long after a mob stormed the grounds that some were seen entering the building, breaking windows and storming both the House and Senate chambers. Amid the violence, the building was shut down. Other congressional buildings were also forced to evacuate.

Alarm spread on social media during the lockdown as photos emerged showing an armed standoff inside the House chamber amid the unrest.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said 13 people have been arrested so far on Wednesday.

“We were looking at just above, just above 13 arrests, I should add very important note here that none of the arrest that occurred, were of D.C. residents, all the individuals who were arrested. All were from out of, out of the area,” Contee said, according to CNN.

A spokesperson for the department also confirmed to The Hill that a woman who was shot amid the riot on Capitol grounds earlier in the day has since died. She had reportedly been shot in the chest.

Thousands of pro-Trump demonstrators had come to D.C. this week to protest the November election results as Trump continues to spread disputed claims about the race. 

The riot on Wednesday also comes weeks after Trump called on his supporters to gather in D.C. on the same day Congress was scheduled to certify votes by the Electoral College votes. 

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” he tweeted last month.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle condemned the violence as riots seen in the Capitol on Wednesday.

Trump also took to Twitter to urge his supporters to be peaceful and leave the Capitol in a video. But he also promoted unsubstantiated claims about the election in the clip, which social media companies enacted restrictions on not long after to avoid inciting more violence.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the House would reconvene later Wednesday evening to continue the certification process.