By Babajide Okeowo
- Democracy Under Assault Say President-Elect Biden
- Death Toll Rises To Four
- Twitter, Facebook Block Donald Trump
After hours of unrest in the United States which has seen hundreds of pro-Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol at about 1 pm local time, with some gaining entry to the building and the doors to the House and Senate, President Donald Trump has called on the protesters to go home.
“I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election. And everyone knows it. Especially the other side. Go home in peace. We don’t want anybody hurt. We love you. You’re very special” he said.
This is coming on the heels of a public address by US President-elect Joe Biden calling on Donald Trump to go on national television and demand protesters end their siege.
“Our democracy is under unprecedented assault,” President-elect Joe Biden said in an address to the American people.
“Let me be clear. The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true America,” he said.
“What we’re seeing is a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness.
“This is not dissent. It is a disorder. It is chaos. It borders on sedition and it must end now.
“I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward.”
Mr. Biden said the outgoing president needed to step up and go on national television to call on protesters to end their siege.
“The words of a president matter. No matter how good or bad that president is,” Mr. Biden said.
“At their best, the words of a president can inspire. At their worst, they can incite.”
Mr Biden described the storming of the US Capitol as “insurrection”.
“Like so many other Americans I am generally shocked and saddened that our nation, so long the beacon of light and hope for democracy, has come to such a dark moment,” he said.
“Through war and strife, America’s endured much. And we will endure here and we will prevail again.”
Today’s “God-awful display” is a painful reminder that democracy is fragile, Mr Biden said.
“Think what our children watching television are thinking. Think what the rest of the world is looking at,” he said.
“For nearly two and a half centuries, we, the people, in search of a more perfect union have kept our eyes on that common good.
“America’s so much better than what we have seen today.”
In a related development, at least four people have died after supporters of President Donald Trump violently occupied the US Capitol, police have confirmed.
Washington, DC Police Chief Robert Contee said that figure included a woman who was shot by the US Capitol Police, as well as three others who died in “medical emergencies”.
Police said both law enforcement agencies and Trump supporters deployed chemical irritants during the hour’s long occupation of the Capitol building before it was cleared.
Meanwhile, Social media sites Twitter and Facebook have taken the unprecedented steps of locking Donald Trump’s accounts in the wake of riots at the US Capitol by his supporters.
Twitter announced it was blocking the outgoing president’s account for 12 hours, while Facebook has barred him for a full 24 hours.
Twitter had earlier removed three posts by Mr Trump for “repeated and severe violations” of its integrity policy.
The posts had repeated Mr Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud and failed to condemn the violence in Washington, D.C., after demonstrators forced their way into the Capitol while Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s win.
Meanwhile, Facebook said it had assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block.
Earlier, Facebook and YouTube removed a video from Mr Trump to his supporters.
Guy Rosen, the vice president of Facebook’s safety and integrity team, said the video was taken down as it “contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence”.
I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution by demanding an end to this siege.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 6, 2021
