Statehouses across nation shut after Trump rioters storm U.S. Capitol

Violent and chaotic protests at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday led several states to close their own legislative buildings, though protests outside Washington remained mostly peaceful.

Hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump broke through the gates of the Washington governor’s mansion complex in Olympia late Wednesday, flooding the lawn, according to KIRO Radio. They shouted for Governor Jay Inslee, a Democract, to come out. The governor was in a safe place, a spokesman said.

Texas, Utah, New Mexico and Georgia all closed or partially shuttered their statehouses in case protests turned violent. A mob of Trump supporters stormed Congress earlier Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to halt the official count of Electoral College votes.

The Texas Department of Public Safety closed the statehouse in Austin “out of an abundance of caution,” it said in an emailed statement. A few hundred people had protested in front of the pink granite building before the shutdown, according to local press reports.

New Mexico evacuated its legislative building in Santa Fe, though no protesters had broken into it, said Pamela Armstrong, a spokesperson with the office of the speaker of the House.

In Atlanta, Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and his senior staff were escorted from the capitol after militia members gathered outside one day after voters handed Democrats control of the U.S. Senate with victories in two runoff races.

Raffensperger, the state official responsible for running elections, has come under fire from Trump following the president’s loss in Georgia in the Nov. 3 general election.

In Sacramento, California, Gov. Gavin Newsom canceled a COVID-19 media briefing as protesters filled downtown streets and the grounds outside the capitol. The Sacramento Police Department said it has made “some arrests” of individuals carrying pepper spray.