About 15 minutes into the Electoral College process Wednesday, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) stood to challenge the integrity of November's general election results. They cited voter fraud in Gosar's home state of Arizona — a state President-elect Joe Biden won by 12,000 votes — though no evidence of any voter fraud actually exists. The conservative-leaning Supreme Court, complete with three justices chosen by President Trump, along with former Attorney General Bill Barr and Trump's own Department of Homeland Security, have said that voter fraud did not impact the presidential election, and that the proceedings were secure.
Yet Trump has continued to insist, falsely and dangerously, that he won the November election — including at a rally Wednesday morning, about two miles away from the U.S. Capitol where certification was underway. Within an hour, white supremacists, Trump supporters, and angry vigilantes brandishing Confederate flags and Trump paraphernalia gathered on the Capitol steps demanding to be let into the building. They eventually broke through, and the scene in the nation's capital soon descended into violent chaos. Here are some of the most harrowing and shocking images of what's happened so far.
