Picture Credit: Bill Clark/Contributor/Getty Images

This past Wednesday, hundreds of Trump supporters gathered in the U.S. Capitol to protest the certification of Joe Biden’s election win. A large group of them invaded the Capitol building where both houses of Congress were meeting to count the Electoral College votes. 

They climbed walls, broke windows and stormed through doors and barricades amd marched past police officers. Inside the building, some of them ruined statues and artifacts, entered and vandalized private offices, while carrying Trump signs. All members of the Senate were evacuated immediately, and the box containing the electoral votes was preserved. Police and security guards worked to push out the protestors who had trespassed into the building. 

In spite of the invasion of the Capitol building, Congress decided to continue with the counting of the Electoral College votes. Later that evening and into the early morning, U.S. Congress certified the election results declaring Joe Biden as the next President. 

In the aftermath of this riot, five people were confirmed dead. Among them, one police officer died due to injuries after being physically harmed in the protest. Many arrests were made, including the man who had vandalized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. Many believe that President Trump incited the rioting and violence by telling his supporters via social media to “fight like hell” because of the belief that the election process and results were fraudulent and that he should have won the election.  

The event is being called a riot, mob and even a terrorist attack, and many including some Republicans believe President Trump should resign or be impeached just two weeks before the end of his term.  Critics point out that President Trump not only encouraged the rioting, but was also too slow to stop it. He even called the protestors “great patriots.” Today, Twitter permanently banned President Trump from the social media platform because of the risk of inciting more violence. 

The day before this protest, the Georgia Senate race run-off took place, which resulted in Democrat candidates winning both seats, with Jon Ossof defeating David Perdue and Raphael Warnock beating Kelly Loeffler. This race was highly anticipated because it would determine which political party would control the Senate.  As a result of both Democrats winning, the balance of power in the Senate switched from Republican to Democrat. With 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats and the new Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast a tie-breaking vote, the Democrats now control the Senate.  They already controlled the House of Representatives.