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Woman Who Was Shot Amid Trump, GOP-Sparked ‘Coup’ at Capitol Building Has Died (Update)

Alberto LuperonJan 6th, 2021, 4:55 pm
 

Protesters supporting U.S. President Donald Trump break into the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. Pro-Trump protesters entered the U.S. Capitol building during demonstrations in the nation’s capital.

Update – 6:01 p.m.: The woman has died. We have updated our story accordingly.

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There’s a developing and violent situation in the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., after Trump supporters — sparked by incendiary, baseless conspiracy theories from President Donald Trump and enabled by certain GOP politicians in Congress — stormed the premises. It has led to at least one fatality. As seen on video from MSNBC, a woman, covered in blood, was carried out on a stretcher.

[Warning: Video is disturbing.]

Two sources said that a woman was in critical condition from being shot in the chest on the Capitol ground, according to CNN. The cable news channel said it “could not provide further details on the circumstances of the shooting,” but it is unclear if they did not know the detail or if they were unauthorized to discuss it. They were described as “sources familiar with the matter.” Capitol police did not immediately respond to an email from Law&Crime. An attempt to call their spokespeople ended with Law&Crime receiving a message that a voice mailbox was full.

Later, it was reported that law enforcement officials said the woman had died.

Washington, D.C.’s police chief said in a late Wednesday afternoon news conference that his department would take the lead on the investigation but that no further details were available.  He also said that his department was an “expert” on handling First Amendment protests — but that those who charged the capitol exhibited changed demeanor.  He called their actions “unlawful, riotous behavior.”

The shooting followed months (even years) of President Donald Trump‘s debunked claims of widespread voter fraud. He asserts that he was cheated by the 2020 presidential election, which he lost numerically according to certified results by the various states and lost again in more than sixty lawsuits filed by either Trump directly or by his supporters. Some GOP politicians, like Utah’s Mitt Romney, have condemned Trump’s position, but others, like Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have been knocked for frequently enabling the president’s moves to undermine confidence in America’s decentralized, state-driven voting process. Cruz dug in on Wednesday as the votes were tallied; McConnell called — finally — for unity.

At the time of this writing, the situation was still fluid, with people still bursting into the capitol building as a line of police cars raced toward the scene and as D.C.’s mayor called for a curfew.

New York Attorney General Letitia James condemned the events as a “coup attempt.”

“The coup attempt initiated by outgoing President Trump has been despicable,” she said in a statement obtained by Law&Crime. “Today, it became violent. If blood is shed, it will be on his hands. These actions, fueled by lies and wild conspiracy theories espoused by President Trump, must be unequivocally condemned by every corner of our society. Ultimately, I am confident the rule of law will prevail. Joe Biden, our duly elected president, will assume office on January 20th and history will remember this as a sad but unsuccessful attempt to destroy our democratic republic.”

Aaron Keller provided additional reporting.

[Image via Win McNamee/Getty Images]

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