US Capitol Hill Siege HIGHLIGHTS: China Likens Riots To Hong Kong Protests, Netizens Say Karma
US Capitol Hill Siege HIGHLIGHTS: Congress finally certified the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Wednesday night (US Time). The joint session commenced on Wednesday after thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, deemed as the citadel of American democracy, on Wednesday afternoon, forcing proceedings to count Electoral College votes cast in the November 3, 2020 presidential election to halt.
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US Capitol Hill Siege LIVE Updates: In an "unprecedented assault" on democracy in America, thousands of angry supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol and clashed with police, resulting in casualty and multiple injuries and interrupting a constitutional process to affirm Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.
However, US lawmakers reconvened to certify Electoral College votes after the violence at the US Capitol in Washington DC.
US President-elect Joe Biden condemned what he called "insurrection" at the US Capitol, after protesters broke into the building and forced proceedings to formally count the Electoral College votes to halt.
In wake of violent protests at US Capitol, Stephanie Grisham, Chief of Staff for US First Lady Melania Trump, resigned.
A look at what happened: The police, outnumbered by the maskless protesters, had a tough time in managing the mob, as hundreds of protesters breached security and entered the Capitol building on Wednesday, where members of the Congress were going through the process of counting and certifying the Electoral College votes. Both the House and Senate and the entire Capitol were placed under a lockdown. Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers were evacuated to safe locations.
One woman who was shot inside US Capitol has died, CNN reported, quoting a spokesperson with the Metropolitan Police Department. Multiple officers were injured during the mob attack.
The protesters at the Capitol started to disperse following the enforcement of curfew in the national capital. However, dozens of protesters remained on the streets in defiance of the curfew.
China on Thursday likened a mob assault on the US Capitol Hill to that of Hong Kong protesters' attack on the local legislative building in 2019 and questioned the contrasting reactions by the international community and the media, while the Chinese netizens cheered the incident in America with words like "Karma", "retribution" and "deserving".
"We have noted what has taken place in the US and we believe that the American people hope for a return to normal order as soon as possible," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a media briefing here while responding to questions seeking China's response to the Capitol riots and Chinese social media reactions applauding the unprecedented violence.
Former President of the United States Barack Obama has described the unprecedented chaos at the Capitol as "a moment of great dishonour" and "shame" for the nation.
"History will rightly remember today's violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonour and shame for our nation. But we'd be kidding ourselves if we treated it as a total surprise," Obama said in a statement posted on Twitter.
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