By Akemi Tamanaha, AsAmNews Associate Editor
This is a developing story. AsAmNews will continue to update.
Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Hill today as Congress prepared to certify the Electoral College votes that will confirm the election of Joe Biden. Asian American and Pacific Islander lawmakers are speaking out against the Trump supporters.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris called “for the assault on the Capitol and our nation’s public servants to end.”
Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) spoke with CBS and NBC News about the events that took place at the U.S. Capitol and confirmed that she was safe in a secure location.
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Duckworth told CBS News that all Democratic and Republican lawmakers are in a safe and secure location. The Illinois Senator says a quick thinking staff member grabbed the Electoral College votes before Trump supporters breached the Capitol building.
Sen. Duckworth, who lost the use of her legs serving the U.S. Army in Iraq, said on Twitter that she never thought she would have to defend democracy “from an attempted violent overthrow in our nation’s Capitol.”
Sen. Duckworth said nothing would stop her from continuing the process of certifying the Electoral College votes.
“I will tell you this, these protestors will not stop me from carrying out my duty. If we have to be here all night and all day tomorrow and the next, we will continue to carry out the work that needs to be done,” Sen. Duckworth told NBC News.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) was one of the Congress members trapped in the House gallery overlooking the House floor when Trump supporters stormed the building.
“It was a very scary moment,” Jayapal said in a phone call with reporters Wednesday afternoon, according to The Seattle Times.
“We were there when shots began to be fired into the chamber, we saw, from where I was sitting, I could see Capitol Police with their guns drawn,” Jayapal said.
Jayapal says one Congress member began to pray. Eventually, they were told to quickly exit and made it to a secure location.
Jayapal said she “can’t contain [her] rage at Donald Trump and Republicans” who she says “invited, incited, and fueled” today’s actions.
Lawmakers have also called on Trump to tell his supporters to protest peacefully and leave the Capitol building. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) criticized Trump for encouraging today’s events.
“He told them to come to the Capitol,” Meng wrote on Twitter. “He invited violence and put our colleagues, staff, Capitol police in harm’s way. There is no greater interrupter of peace and democracy than him.”
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) also called on the President and his supporters to stop inciting violence.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), pointed out that many Republican judges, Republican lawmakers and prominent Republican political figures have sided against Trump, saying he has lost the election.
Newly sworn in Republican Congresswoman Michelle Steele (R-CA) condemned on Twitter the rioters saying that violence is not the answer.
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