Most Shocking Photos of Chaos and Violence as Pro-Trump Rioters Ransacked U.S Capitol

One year ago today, a horde of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. After marching from then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, they used pipes, baseball bats, bear spray, metal barriers, and other weapons to beat back police. They eventually breached the Capitol Building, where lawmakers had assembled to certify Electoral College votes for the 2020 election.

The mob attacked the Capitol and its police because they had been somehow convinced by Trump that he won the 2020 election, an election he lost by some seven million votes. Trump had convinced the mob that his own vice president, Mike Pence, was in a position to overturn the results of the election but had chosen not to. That delirious claim inspired some of the rioters to chant “hang Mike Pence” as they stormed the Capitol.

It was a stunning display: hundreds of MAGA-hat clad rioters violently beating back police, who were outnumbered and eventually overwhelmed. Outside the Capitol Building, they waved giant Trump flags from its steps. Inside, some wandered its halls,

others broke into the offices of lawmakers and posed for photos, and others hunted Trump’s foes. A man dressed in horns and fur posed for photos in the evacuated Senate chamber. One group tried to bash through a set of doors leading to the Speaker’s Lobby, where lawmakers were being evacuate. Rioter Ashli Babbitt was shot dead by police as she joined a crowd trying to lunge through those doors.

Police regained control of the Capitol hours later, and lawmakers returned to certify the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, which finally came around 4 a.m.

Five people died that day, and more than 100 police officers were wounded. More than a dozen were hospitalized with serious injuries. Many remain traumatized from the violence that day.

The events received extensive media coverage. They were broadcast live on cable news, and streamed on social media. Images poured in. See some of the most powerful photos from that day below.