The clash comes shortly after Trump addressed a crowd of his supporters, baselessly claiming election fraud. "We will not let them silence your voices," he told the protesters. On Dec. 30, he tweeted, "JANUARY SIXTH, SEE YOU IN DC!"
The District of Columbia's Mayor, Muriel Bowser, issued a curfew for 6 p.m.
President-elect Joe Biden later addressed the American people in a speech, where he called on Trump to "step up" and "to go on national television now to fulfill his oath."
"I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to move forward," he added.
In response, Trump once more called the election "fraudulent" before telling his supporters "We can't play into the hands of these people. we have to have peace, so go home."
Amid the turmoil, a number of celebrities have taken to Twitter to share outrage, embarrassment and shock over the state of the country. See below.
"White supremacy is nothing new in this country but the blatant display of racism and disregard for our democratic process that we saw yesterday is heartbreaking. The violence and anarchy at the capitol is a result of 4 years of racism, bigotry, and fear mongering from Trump and the Republican party. These are 2 completely different Americas that we are living in. We saw the difference in treatment between these “protests” and the protests over the summer. If these people were black they would have all been shot dead #areyoupayingattentionnow" — Kevin Liles, on Instagram