President Trump condemned yesterday’s riots and announced his new focus on “ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power” to the Biden-Harris administration in a video statement released on Twitter at 4:10 p.m. PST today.

While he continued to uphold false claims of election fraud, he acknowledged his defeat to Biden, “A new administration will be inaugurated on Jan. 20. This moment calls for healing and reconciliations.”

Congress officially certified the electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election in a joint session early today morning, ratifying Biden’s victory after pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol yesterday in an unprecedented rampage of violence and destruction. Vice President Mike Pence tweeted yesterday morning that he does not have the unilateral authority to determine the validity of electoral votes, in contrast to Trump’s false claims that the vice president can reject fraudulent electors.

The president spoke to a crowd of his supporters in his “Save America” rally yesterday morning, encouraging them to “stay strong” and to “fight.” In a video statement published on Twitter at 6:15 p.m. PST today, Biden accused Trump for leading an attack against democracy since he became president.

“What we witnessed yesterday was not dissent, it was not disorder, it was not protest, it was chaos,” Biden said. “They weren’t protesters. Don’t dare call them protesters. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. And I wish we could say we couldn’t see it coming. But that isn’t true.”

According to an update from the D.C. Police Department, four people died after yesterday’s insurrection, with one woman shot by a Capitol police officer during a standoff in the building and three others suffering “medical emergencies.” More than 52 people were arrested, 47 of those being curfew violations.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted yesterday that the Pentagon had mobilized around 1100 National Guard members to assist D.C. law enforcement. The Associated Press (AP) also reported that the Department of Homeland Security deployed additional officers from the Federal Protective Service and the U.S. Secret Service. 

Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund will leave his post effective Jan. 16 after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Capitol Police Labor Committee demanded his resignation. Despite the chief promising that police were prepared to handle yesterday’s events and even rejecting federal help three days prior, the mob successfully infiltrated the Capitol, scaling walls and storming private chambers while videos showed law enforcement providing little resistance to rioters. 

“There’s a lot of unprofessionalism from the police on their part. They weren’t doing a good job of enforcing their policies and protecting their building,” Eric Fang (‘20) said. “It really is pretty embarrassing for the country that one of the most important buildings was just violated like that. A lot of things were sacrificed and violated that day that shouldn’t have been.”

Biden also criticized the response from law enforcement today on Twitter, comparing it to the BLM marches last summer, when officials violently confronted protestors with heavy use of tear gas and rubber bullets. 

“No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn’t have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol,” Biden said. “We all know that’s true, and it is unacceptable.”

As rioters clashed with the police, Pence, who was scheduled to supervise the certification, was evacuated from the Senate chambers after all Capitol buildings were placed on lockdown. Congressional staff hid inside their offices and were instructed to close and lock all external entrances, such as doors and windows.

“It’s important to point out the double standards with what’s going on and be really aware of the wording we use when describing yesterday’s events and the BLM protests,” said Angela Jia (11), who follows the news closely with her family. “I think we need to stay vigilant about how we’re perceiving these events and how different groups are being treated, so we can first notice and be aware of it and then prevent it.”

Congress resumed the validation process six hours after their joint session was interrupted.

The Senate and House heard objections to certifying Arizona and Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. The Senate rejected the Arizona objection 93-6 and the Pennsylvania objection 92-7, with senators Tommy Tuberville (R-A.L.), Rick Scott (R-F.L.), Roger Marshall (R-K.S.), John Kennedy (R-L.A.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-M.S.), Josh Hawley (R-M.O.), Ted Cruz (R-T.X.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-W.Y.) voting against the certification. The House rejected the Arizona objection 303-121 and the Pennsylvania objection 282-138.

Some Republican lawmakers, like Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-G.A.) and Sen. James Lankford (R-O.K.), had previously stated that they would oppose the certification but withdrew their objections after yesterday’s events. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-U.T.) praised their actions and further criticized Trump in front of the Senate for inciting a “dangerous gambit” and an “unprecedented attack against our democracy.”

“Up until this episode, speaking out against Trump in most deep red districts was an act of jumping on a grenade. It was political suicide,” upper school economics teacher Samuel Lepler said. “I would commend the bravery of GOP [lawmakers] who are willing to brave that risk for the benefit of our country and for the healing of the nation.”

Trump was banned from Twitter for 12 hours and is indefinitely banned from Facebook and Instagram after he released a now-deleted video statement yesterday, hours into the riots, encouraging his supporters to go home and adding “we love you” and “you’re very special.”

With 13 days left in Trump’s presidency, a growing body of congresspeople are supporting the invocation of the 25th Amendment, through which the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet can discharge Trump of his presidential powers and duties.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-I.L.) became the first Republican member of Congress to publicly call for the 25th Amendment to be invoked against Trump when he issued a formal statement on Twitter today morning. Pelosi tweeted that she and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Pence today to remove the president from office; the vice president has not yet responded to them.