Public emergency extended in District of Columbia following violence in Capitol Hill

Concerned authorities have said that four people died after Trump supporters entered the Capitol building and engaged with riot police on Wednesday afternoon as Congress held a joint session to count the 2020 Electoral College votes. Both chambers of Congress recessed debate after the mob forced a lockdown at the Capitol and the evacuation of lawmakers and VP Mike Pence. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the city will be under a state of public emergency lasting until January 21. Capitol Hill, it may be recalled, is the seat of the U.S. government, home to the domed United States Capitol, Senate, Houses of Representatives and the  Supreme Court of the USA. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other world leaders and NATO have expressed shock over the storming of US Capitol Hill by supporters of POTUS   Donald Trump protesting against alleged manipulation in the 2020 Presidential elections. Modi says on Twitter “Distressed to see news about rioting and violence in Washington DC. The orderly and peaceful transfer of power must continue. The democratic process cannot be allowed to be subverted through unlawful protests”. Initial reports say dozens had forced their way to the top of the Capitol. More were coming up the steps. Police are trying to bolster their numbers through the west doors but someone with a fire extinguisher is dousing them from above. The crowd only keeps cheering as Twitter, Facebook locked Donald Trump’s account after violence on Capitol Hill. The moves were an unprecedented rebuke of Trump by the social media companies, which have long been megaphones for the president. Twitter and Facebook on Wednesday locked the accounts of President Donald Trump, which prevents him from posting messages to his more than 88 million followers on Twitter and 35 million followers on Facebook after he published a string of inaccurate and inflammatory tweets on a day of violence in the nation’s capital. Twitter said Trump’s account would remain locked for 12 hours and the ban could be extended if several of his tweets that rejected the election results and appeared to incite violence were not deleted. Trump’s account will be permanently suspended if he continues violating Twitter’s policies against violent threats and election misinformation, the company added. Zuckerberg said in an internal memo to employees that he was “saddened by this mob violence”, according to a copy reviewed by The New York Times. He said Facebook had stepped up the moderation of Trump’s comments because the situation was “an emergency”. “The peaceful transition of power is critical to the functioning of democracy. Trump also told his supporters to go home in a video that he posted on multiple social media sites Wednesday afternoon. “You have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order,” he said while repeating false claims that the election had been stolen from him. Twitter later removed three tweets, including the video and the tweet by Trump inaccurately claiming a “sacred landslide election victory” before locking his account. YouTube also deleted the video, as did Facebook, which also took down the misleading post by Trump on the “election victory”. Edited by PK Chakravarty