Images from inside the United States Capitol building show broken windows and ransacked offices after thousands of pro-Donald Trump rioters vandalised the hallowed halls and Senate chambers and posed for photos on Wednesday night as police struggled to defend the building.
A video posted by a CNN reporter Ali Zaslav shows the office of a senator in a mess as papers and files are seen strewn across the floor and lamps broken. The video has been retweeted over 36 thousand times so far.
A photo posted by Anthony Quintano shows a message written on a door reading: “Murder the media.”
ABC News reporter Kevin Lewis posted a photo of a broken window and a long note left by a pro-Trump mob in the kitchen area which read: “See this broken glass? You thought democracy was you made the rules and citizens obeyed. Well, as you can see, you find out the hard way.”
Another note in red ink adds: “Thomas Jefferson is smiling at all this mess!” and “The American people are silent no more!”
Several other photos taken by journalists show furniture and debris littered around corridors and flags dumped in bins after hours of mayhem that saw members of Congress hiding and the Capitol entering a complete lockdown.
Capitol damage aftermath
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According to photos and reports in the US media, the attackers, some of them dressed in costumes, were carrying cameras and Trump flags. An armed standoff took place after the crowd entered the inner chambers of the Senate. The security forces spent hours trying to evacuate everyone to safety.
A video posted by Sawyer Hackett, senior advisor to politician Julian Castro, showed several Black employees of the maintenance staff of the Capitol cleaning up the mess left behind by the pro-Trump attackers.
