Pictures Show Guns Drawn on House Floor as Mob Storms Congress

Thousands of protesters headed to Washington on Wednesday, surrounding the U.S. Capitol and breaching police lines during a joint session of Congress to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's win.

Many photos and videos posted on social media showed President Donald Trump's supporters protesting the certification of state's Electoral College votes.

As the joint session continued, tensions escalated, and protesters eventually invaded the Capitol, entering the Senate chamber and prompting police officers to draw their guns inside the House chamber.

Capitol police officers are seen in the picture below pointing guns at a door in the House chamber as protesters gathered outside. In the second picture, police officers can be seen standing at another door in the House chamber as protesters try to enter.

Several other photos below show the chaotic scenes inside the Capitol as protesters entered the Senate and House chambers.

Igor Bobic, a politics reporter for the HuffPost, shared several photos of the protesters inside the building, with one showing a protester waving a Confederate flag outside of the Senate.

Another photo posted to Twitter by Bobic showed a protester standing inside the Senate.

Another picture showed several Trump supporters lying on the ground as they are detained by police officers.

Protesters also entered the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The picture below shows a note on her desk that reads, "We Will Not Back Down."

Another photo shows a Trump supporter wearing a "Keep America Great" hat while sitting at a desk after entering the Capitol.

A similar photo, shown below, shows a Trump supporter standing on a staircase in the Capitol waving a flag saying "Trump Is My President."

Before the Capitol was invaded, other photos and videos were posted on social media. They show the crowd surrounding the building and eventually taking down barriers set up by police.

Donie O'Sullivan of CNN posted a video on Twitter showing protesters breaking through barriers outside of the Capitol and heading toward the entrance.

Twitter user Elijah Schaffer of The Blaze shared a similar video that shows protesters pushing law enforcement officials.

"Trump supporters have breached the Capitol building, tearing down 4 layers of security fencing and are attempting to occupy the building—fighting federal police who are overrun," Schaffer wrote in the tweet.

Another video, posted by Twitter user Brian Entin of News Nation Now, showed a video of protesters reaching the steps of the Capitol, with many waving flags in support of Trump.

The Capitol was placed on lockdown as protesters continued to move closer, but they were eventually able to breach the building and were seen inside.

In a video posted by BNO News, protesters walk through the halls of the Capitol.

While the protesters gathered to show support for Trump, many of the president's allies, as well as Donald Trump Jr., condemned the actions of the demonstrators.

"This is wrong and not who we are. Be peaceful and use your 1st Amendment rights, but don't start acting like the other side. We have a country to save and this doesn't help anyone," Trump Jr. wrote in a tweet.

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz also criticized the protests, writing on Twitter that "violence is always unacceptable. Even when passions run high." Cruz was one of 13 Republican senators who earlier said that they would object to the certification of the states' electoral votes.

Newsweek reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

This story was updated on January 7 to include a new version of a picture, after a request from Getty Images.