Photos show the trail of destruction inside the US Capitol following an attempted coup by pro-Trump supporters

Madison Hall
OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP/GettyThe aftermath of the US Capitol Building riots.
  • Thousands of protesters from across the US gathered in Washington, DC, on Wednesday to protest the presidential vote certification in Congress.
  • The protests turned into riots, leading to the Capitol building being evacuated as insurrectionists stormed the building in an attempted coup.
  • Prior to the vote certification process, Trump whipped his supporters into a frenzy using a groundless claim that Congress can selectively throw out states’ electoral votes based on unsubstantiated assertions of fraud.
  • Rioters left a trail of destruction inside of the Capitol as they entered congressional offices. Other damage inside of the building includes broken glass, used cigarettes, and blood spread across the face of a presidential bust.
  • Journalists returning to the Capitol building on Thursday morning documented the destruction remaining.
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The US Capitol building was tarnished during an attempted coup by pro-Trump insurrectionists on Wednesday.

The protests grew violent after a speech from President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning in which he told the crowd that he would never concede the 2020 election to President-elect Joe Biden.

“We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen,” Trump said. “You don’t concede when there’s theft involved. Our country has had enough. We’re not going to take it anymore.”

The president’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, called for a “trial by combat.” In the hours following, the Capitol building was attacked by thousands of insurrectionists, ultimately breaching the building at 1:30 p.m. ET. Rioters left a trail of destruction along their path inside of the Capitol, breaking doors, glass, smoking cigarettes, and wiping blood on a presidential bust. The US Capitol was declared secure by the House Sergeant at Arms four hours later.

By Wednesday’s end, four insurrectionists were declared dead: an Air Force veteran who was shot inside of the Capitol building and three protesters from medical complications.

At 8 p.m. ET, members of Congress returned to the ransacked Capitol building that violent rioters had infiltrated just hours before to resume the certification of each state’s electoral votes.

But as Congress debated on the floor of the House and Senate, the stain of the day’s events remained inside of the Capitol with “Murder The Media” scrawled onto one office door and the offices of many ransacked and left askew.

According to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on WNYC public radio, the stench of urine from at least one protester still emanated inside the building.

As journalists and photographers returned to the Capitol on Thursday morning, the destruction from inside of the building was still present. Many documented their findings, sharing them on social media:

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