D.C. police confirmed late Wednesday that explosives were found near the U.S. Capitol as President Trump’s supporters rioted in the area and then stormed the complex.
D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) recovered and removed one pipe bomb from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and another from the Republican National Committee (RNC), Chief Robert Contee told reporters.
Police also found a cooler with Molotov cocktails in a vehicle that had a long gun in it on the Capitol grounds, the chief said.
Contee announced that as of 9:30 p.m., MPD arrested “an excess of” 52 people, with 26 of them occurring on the Capitol grounds. Four people were arrested for allegedly carrying pistols without a license, one for possession of a prohibited weapon and 47 “related to curfew violations and unlawful entry.”
Police recovered at least six firearms on Wednesday, officials said, in addition to three found on Tuesday night.
“These numbers are preliminary and will be updated accordingly,” Contee said.
The New York Times first reported that a pipe bomb was found at the RNC headquarters and the DNC headquarters had been evacuated after a suspicious package was found.
The newspaper’s report came as chaos broke out at the Capitol when Trump’s supporters stormed the building shortly after 2:30 p.m. as Congress was meeting to certify the Electoral College vote affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
At least four people died amid the chaos, including a woman who Contee said was shot by a plain-clothes U.S. Capitol Police officer. The shooting is under review.
D.C. police worked with the U.S. Park Police and the National Guard to remove the rioters from Capitol grounds as a 6 p.m. curfew went into effect.
The crowd marched and invaded the Capitol after Trump spoke at a protest rally, repeating unproven claims that the election was “rigged” against him and fraud led to Biden’s win.