their present supporters continue to occupy the steps of the u.s. capitol a curfew has been announced in washington d.c. starting at 6 pm which is in about an hour from now it's now 5 pm in washington d.c. coming up to 2200 hours g.m.t. if you're just joining us on al-jazeera this is continuing coverage of the incredible situation unfolding in washington d.c. this january the 6th on the day that the u.s. congress was to certify the election victory of joe biden president trump supporters stormed the congress building. and are now still out on the streets. rejecting the victory of joe biden and saying that this election was stolen from president. let's listen to the police chief of washington d.c. once again. there was

a man but the majority of the rest were from people of the district of columbia and number of families have been recovered some police departments government cover unit to include grounds have been recovered as well as handguns. are. ok last question martin w.a.m. you. are with your question. if you had one quarter of the cargo that we know. now that you are directly and. when you guys are going to go. there you. go right on target what are you on the way well. again i'm not i don't think that we're prepared to talk about specifics about deployment and strategy at this stage but we just need to make sure. everybody

knows is that they need to clear the capitol grounds they need to remove themselves back to wherever they're staying or back to their home states let the police do their jobs and the question. the control of the national guard think you know very well about every governor in america has control. in the district is is different in that we make a request to the secretary of the army over the many months as the secretary in the army and i know how to communicate so that we can have that request approved just as soon as possible. thank you everybody. that was a news conference with the d.c. mayor marial bows and the d.c. police chief addressing the situation in washington today where some still some scenes of chaos outside the u.s.

capitol building president from supporters attacking. as you can see the media there media equipment as well they still haven't heeded his call to go home the president about an hour or so ago posted a message on social media telling his supporters to go home but at the same time telling them that he understood their anger that he knew that the election was stolen from him a false claim of course u.s. president elect joe biden has also spoken about the situation unfolding in washington today calling on tom supporters to go home and calling on the president to ask his supporters to stop their actions here's what the president had to say. 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 others. but you have to go home now we have to have peace we have to have law and order we have to respect

our great people and law and order we don't want anybody hurt it's a very tough period of time there's never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us from me from you from our country this was a fraudulent election but we can't play into the hands of these people we have to have peace so go home we love you you're very special you've seen what happens you see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil i know how you feel but go home and go home and peace. and this was the reaction of president elect joe biden who call it what is happening in washington today as an assault on democracy this hour. our democracy is under unprecedented assault unlike anything we've seen in modern

times. in assault the citadel of liberty the capital itself an assault on the people's representatives in the capitol hill police sworn to protect them in the public servants who work at the heart of our republic and assault on the rule of law like few times we've ever seen an assault on most secret of america not undertake it's the doing of the people's business the may be very clear the scenes of chaos in the capital do not reflect the true america do not represent who we are. all right

live pictures now and something seems to be happening now inside the capitol building as you can see from the pictures some smoke perhaps gas and some flashes coming out of the building we know that there are national security guards who were able to enter the building about an hour or so ago and now some smoke and some flashes coming out of the capitol building that president thomas supporters stormed a few hours ago as congress was to certify the election victory of joe biden patty cole hain i don't know what your vantage point is but from the pictures that we're looking at something seems to be happening inside the capitol building at this right moment what do you know what do you see. or are going to. pay our care and if you are. ok. how do you know on air can you

hear me what is happening but. 'd ok we've lost or something is clearly happening the police seem to be moving in now. we've seen 3 lashes and we've seen some sort of smoke which looks like tear gas inside the building earlier we heard from the d.c. police chief who said that several officers had been injured in the clashes and he said that it was clear that the crowd was intent on causing harm to the offices by deploying some chemical ery tent on police and then they forced entry into the capitol building so this is what the d.c. police chief said just a few hours ago and now we're seeing riot police moving in heading in what direction it's unclear right now but present time supporters are still on the steps of the capitol building inside the building itself we don't know what's happening

but this is what we can see we can see some smoke that presumably is coming out from inside the building we saw some flashes earlier so perhaps some sort of you see there is one more flash grab some sort of confrontation some sort of situation unfolding inside the building between the national security guards who are present and president supporters who are also still inside the building unclear now but let's try and see if we can get more with patty cohan who's back on the phone patty tell us what's happening if you if you know. well i can tell you the streets right now around the capitol are completely filled with emergency police off emergency vehicles i just heard the sound of tear gas being fired on the front side of the capitol against your graphic walk people through the air and the able to see what's happening there but the large crowd that had occupied the scraps and played outside have both was it painted on the back side of the capitol but there are going to be

serious questions about how this was allowed to happen a curfew is it going into effect that will give the police the ability of the authority to arrest anybody who got on the street 53. leaders national guard has been called in all of the streets are blocked off there's going to be a lot of question about how police responded to this because a car there's a lot of here you have to be here and i am walked about a block away from the p.c. so it is a dot over yet police are going to say it's a lot of question but for now if he is going to charge you clear the building and clear the area around capitol hill yet d.c. police chief saying patty socially saw faces have been injured and that they're fighting to regain control of the capitol building i know you're suffering from the 2 gas inhalation that that gas that's being side and we can see

a lot of people in the crowd as well covering their faces and noses because of the tear gas that's been. the key to the police are now trying to move in and trying to regain control of the capitol building we saw. but there's still crowds outside of the building. i know it's very difficult for you to speak right now but. try and stay with us if you can because something seems to be happening something in the situation is moving clearly d.c. police chief saying that several officers were a injured are you and you talked about. ambulances and e.m.f. vehicles and so on are you aware of other injuries perhaps among the protesters who were there. where were located we were able to see a paramedic who rushed into the ambulance follow follow follow up by dozens of supporters they were cherry and what we believe that a woman was shot inside the capital that may have been what we saw there are

reports that she is in critical condition some of the protesters of course were saying that i cannot verify that she broke a window and was shot but i think we need to take a step back and think about what i can pay to see for you here we're looking at the secret service helicopter that usually follows the president clear rooftop over the capitol building the u.s. capitol building we believe the media has got attacked by the supporters on the front side of the capitol we've seen coast pictures on social media of protesters getting access to the speaker of the house's office the fact that they will bear. on the house floor which is on social media where they had to put a dress up like a some sort of big piece of furniture in front of the door. this is a chaotic scene the masses have seem to have mostly gone there between the side of the capitol that i'm on but in the distance you can hear the constant tear gas

being fired i know they were using flash bang grenades earlier it is a remarkable scene here. then there's a curfew that is now going to be coming into effect in about. 2550 minutes or so i think speedy and local time but he doesn't look like patty people are going to be moving are going to go anyway despite president himself calling on what is to go. well let's not forget that the president earlier in the day told protesters that he wanted to march with them to the capitol and as soon as he starts speaking that's in fact what they did with the sea of people just basically. capital yes this is still a very chaotic scene but again once that curfew gets a little fact they have quite a bit of law enforcement here they have the national guard they have the f.b.i. hostage rescue situation teams there are police everywhere and i can hear chanting

in the distance usa so when they are given the go ahead the police will have the manpower to go in and confront these people or less likely or a lot of bloodshed so i have a who has to give that go ahead for the police to go in and this launch prison term supporters from the capitol building the the acting u.s. defense secretary is saying that the entire national guard on has been activated and is prepared to provide additional support but who actually makes call for the security forces for the national guard to move in on this protest is because nothing is happening so far from what we can will be when you see it yet because it's easy everything is complicated if it's on the actual grounds of the capital that should fall to the u.s. capitol police but of course then there's also d.c. police involved national guard that should fall to the capitol police to make that

ultimate decision i think there's been a lot of questions as to why they haven't taken those steps just yet it did seem as i was standing here on the lawn watching the goal that it did take police quite a while to get in reinforcements they're going to be questions about why they needed to have reinforcements because everyone knew that this was a possibility the president himself that told people to go ahead and come to the capital to in his words stop the deal because he keeps lying about elections and saying it was stolen what in fact he lost a free and fair election. ok patty we leave you for a few minutes hopefully you will be able to catch your breath. away from the tear gas is one of the many correspondents covering these riots in washington d.c. for us today riots on capitol hill sunset is falling on the u.s. capitol now we are getting reports that police have been able to clear some

protesters from the sets of the capitol building but from the pictures that we're looking at right now they are still quite a few people there maybe they're. a different side of the building that we're not able to see but on the top steps there is you can see there is police a little higher what looks like president supporters and even below below the steps below on the grounds of the capitol building a few more supporters perhaps hundreds more still waving. flags in banners and so on there but it looks like there are less there are fewer people than they were just a few hours ago let's speak to see who is at the white house for us what's the latest reaction from where you are. from where we are we get it we continue to get more and more. reports that donald trump simply didn't want to speak out against what was going on on capitol hill he was in

a fury because mike pence had refused his. to decertify the certified results from the states during the electoral count. he will he wouldn't be convinced to intercede as we began to see the scenes unfold on capitol hill now the interesting question is about you know who is in charge and we've been trying to figure that out too in that press conference that we did finally get to their bows and did say she had declared the scene a riot so technically that means you know i think you're asking who gives the order but it is so complicated in part because d.c. he is a very individual an area in the united states is not a state's and we have no the man in the end has doesn't have that much control over any over much except for most of our police force but the police force i necessarily have control over the capitol complex it's the capitol police there's a federal agency so we have this kind of soup of agencies and local local

authorities so we have the metropolitan police who have no the man has now declared a right so technically and we all know from the summer time what that means if they i mean they just declared on lawful assembly you're going to get arrested basically . the whim of any police officer declaring a riot is clearly more serious but perhaps they just don't have the jurisdiction or they haven't got the permission to act on capitol grounds and still the capitol police but meanwhile within the capitol we've now seen f.b.i. swat teams we've seen the bureau of alcohol firearms and tobacco teams walking around partly because there have been reports which we now have had confirmed to $25.00 ohms how to pipe bombs were found and defused one of the our at the at the republican national committee which is a little further away from where from capitol hill but to pipe bombs were found on the police in fact also did confirm that a number of firearms had been see. used over the course of the melody in capitol hill with number of arrests as well but there is always a. question of who is in charge and now we know we understand that the national

guard is coming in federal authorities and d.o.d. and also what we were making all resources available to the city council. issued a printed statement which said we also for the national guard to be deployed and we were refused by the pentagon i guess we have to figure out who was telling the truth and then the final point the recent because donald trump did give that message from the rose garden we understand he prefers the rose garden because he feels the lighting is better in the rose garden he gave that to he said we love you but go home but then put it promptly put a warning label on it this claim of election fraud is disputed in this tweet colby replied to read tweeted or liked due to a risk of violence or his message that was all started simply to calm things down was deemed too dangerous for twitter and can't be read tweeted because of the risk of violence this is the reality that we are now experiencing indeed very

interesting she had thank you very much for bringing us the latest there from washington d.c. . to now speak to p.j. crowley he is with us has been with us southwest's a few minutes now former white house deputy press secretary and state department spokesperson thank you so much for being with us and thank you for your patience as we deal with this breaking news situation we're hearing that police arrested him to clear protesters off of the steps of the u.s. capitol building some unprecedented images chaos in the united states today that the entire world is watching with dismay i think what is your reaction. well as an american i'm stunned and i'm sure people around the world 'd who know america or watch america are equally. it is unprecedented for a president united states they'll just stand before a crowd and challenge them to to storm capitol hill and and try

to stop democracy from doing what it's supposed to do which is to certify you know the election of president elect joe biden i'm sure the congress will get back to that i hope leaks tomorrow i'll be i'll be interested to watch see what what what the political reaction is to this where there are those who have precipitated this political challenge here continue about knowing a spot to be successful 'd or whether i think you know a lot of people have spotted this was cost free it's not cost free it has 'd done significant damage to american democracy both how we see it inside the united states and how we see it beyond. a lot of questions right now as as to you know. who is to blame for this situation that we find down sounds in today for for this chaos and of course everyone pointing the finger of blame at donald trump but can he be played. i think he is singularly

responsible i mean we've been playing with fire for 2 months but what about the republican party as a whole. well there certainly there have been unable or. a member senators of the congressman who began this process today by challenging results of 1st in arizona but we've never had a president who not only has used to recognize the results of 'd it. 'd as not conceded as not embraced you know the peaceful transfer of power which is fundamental to where in the biography and here at the 11th hour you know 2 weeks from today joe biden will be inaugurated as president is facing up today your challenge to supporters to storm the congress and try to overturn a result you have never seen that is certainly in my line so what is what do you think the president's strategy is here if there is one i mean obviously his

supporters wanted to disrupt congress today but moving on moving forward what i his intentions i. know it's not it's a difficult question obviously but they have. him up until today which is to try to return jury and you egal me a free and fair election. presuming that tomorrow or the next day. the election result is certified i don't know you know what president trump does in his last 11 or 12 or 13 against the law office i fear that he can still you know be a very very destructive force right. right p.j. crowley i mean you served as a state department official for a number of years you had to i guess to to issue a number of statements of crises on crises that were happening in other countries

and you know very often when things like this happen in other countries we talk about a cool. would you call what's happening today in the u.s. a cool. i certainly believe it is an attempted insurrection oh i'm you know i was president trying to spend 4 years admiring autocratic leaders denigrating democratic leaders of yesterday we spent the last 2 months rather than recognizing the results you lost years found trying to find your way through the courts to through the quarter of a hook opinion to trying to overturn the result of i mean we we have to wait and see you know i think you'll be very very important remember in american government there are 3 co-equal branches the executive branch legislative branch judicial branch i think it is going to be very very important for congress to come together tomorrow and send a very strong signal except result the election and it's time

for president trump to cease the desist you know what he has been doing it was 2 months some reactions p.j. crowley coming from outside the united states nato secretary general again sultan beric saying the outcome of the democratic u.s. election must be respected germany's foreign minister saying democracies enemies would be cheered by scenes of violence at the united states capitol and calling on donald trump to accept u.s. voters this nation these are things that we usually hear from the u.s. . sorry i mean the things that we hear from the united states of south to other countries you wouldn't expect other countries to be telling the u.s. to respect democracy democratic elections calling on the president to accept to vote his decision it does is it it is quite incredible isn't it. oh sure i mean we need an autocratic governments. bias the united states to peacefully with it's all

you know their differences i think it is something that is disconcerting you know to who we are deeply divided but now we are distracted. and this status is significant implications in terms of you know perception of the united states perceptions of american leadership and it represents a very deep hole in all of the biden history she is going to have to try to dig out in 2 weeks from now thank you so much p.j. crowley for talking to us we appreciate your time p.j. cronies a former u.s. state department official reacting to the situation unfolding in washington d.c. today where supporters of president trump. still on the streets sighs night falls on the u.s. capitol protesting joe biden's election victory not heeding the president's call to

go home despite him in a twitter message video message a few hours ago asking on them to stand down and to go home but at the same time telling them that he loves them that they were special people and that he understood their anger so. we saw scenes gas being fired. perhaps the national guard trying to dislodge president supporters from inside the building. but unclear whether they have completely succeeded in that operation the supporters of the president still outside the capitol building some of them have been moved from the steps of the building but as you can see tear gas still being fired let's bring in gable elizondo was one of the correspondents outside the capitol building for us today in covering this incredible to choice and gave it looks empty way you are a bit more quiet from where you are but clearly that's not the case everywhere else

what's been happening. it's not and the reason it's empty where we're at is because we purposely came here because journalists were being attacked. there by trump supporters outside of the capital we saw it firsthand with our own eyes and so for safety we have pulled further away i can tell you that we are on the east side of the capitol for those that know washington that is the site of the u.s. capitol that's near the u.s. supreme court building the steps on this side where a lot of the clashes were taking place these steps at least on this side of the capitol is fairly at this hour most of the protesters have been cleared out of there but there are other side to the capitol where they have not been cleared out yet the capitol as well knows a very big huge building that takes up several city blocks so i can tell you from what we're seeing from our perspective here there were some very tense moments as i

mentioned there were about 15 to 20 journalists that were reporting inside a pin which is a metal gate that is often used where they were journalists gather to report with video equipment and our satellite equipment and everything was fine and then it was as as tear gas was being fired some of the protesters turned on the journalists and came over to the pin started yelling at us. we were just outside to get the journalists who were inside and outside the pen and then kicked down the barrier and then started ripping up the camera equipment and at that point is when many of the journalists for their own safety and such as us decided to pull away that's why we're at where we're at now but clearly there has been some there has been some. has been some. some safety that's been restored here but i got to tell you there were some moments that the u.s. capitol was completely in my view at least from what i saw. out of control of security personnel here so riot. lisa pushing back some of the protesters now but

quite a few of them still outside the capitol building as we can see on these live pictures night has now fallen. it is incredible that this is still going on. it's been going on for a few hours now for about 4 or 5 hours now gabe there's a curfew that's coming into effect at 6 pm and what happens then. well we're going to find out about half an hour because that's when the curfew goes into effect this was a curfew that was put into effect by the mayor of the district of columbia many of the protesters when they heard about this. curfew started to go home let me be clear here we've been at the capital site for well over 3 hours roughly now and at that earlier event earlier in the day today there were tens of 1000 for tension

even more than 100000 people that were at that rally earlier today in washington many of those people left when that was over the people that came here to the capital or i would say that most ardent supporters of the president the most aggressive if you will they wanted to make their message heard and this is the group here has been causing a lot of these quite frankly these problems and causing this tamil to a situation. the curfew will go into effect in about half an hour time we simply don't know what will happen for any people that are still here on the capitol grounds as journalists were allowed to be here but in terms of the protesters are trump supporters or anyone else for that matter the curfew applies to everybody in washington d.c. not just the people that are here for this for the trump of it today we'll have to see what security personnel in the capitol police decide to do because we don't know again they've cleared out a lot of the capitol but not everybody yet so that'll be interesting.