A police officer has been placed on leave following the fatal shooting of a woman at Capitol Hill
The police officer involved in the fatal shooting of a woman during riots at Capitol Hill has been placed on administrative leave.
His powers have been suspended pending investigation, the Chief of US Capitol Police Steven Sund said.
He did not identify the officer but confirmed Ashli Babbit was the victim.
The fervent Donald Trump supporter and 14-year Air Force veteran died of a bullet wound to the chest as thousands broke into the building in Washington DC last night causing a lockdown.
Two men and a woman also died in the area around the Capitol, but police did not directly link their deaths to the violence.
Sund said police are also conducting ‘a thorough review’ of the assault on the US Capitol, including security planning, policies and procedures.
A pro-Trump mob confronts US Capitol police after the group stormed the building (Picture: Getty)
He said the rioters ‘actively attacked’ police officers and ‘were determined to enter into the Capitol Building by causing great damage.’
He also defended his agency’s response from criticism that officers did not stop the incursion.
He said officers had a ‘robust plan’ for what he anticipated would be peaceful protests, but what occurred Wednesday was ‘criminal riotous behavior.’
He said more than 50 Capitol and Washington police officers were injured and several Capitol Police officers were hospitalized with serious injuries.
As Trump supporters stormed the halls of Congress, police responded to reports of two pipe bombs and a suspicious vehicle in the vicinity of the Capitol complex.
Trump supporters in the Capitol Rotunda after storming the building (Picture: EPA)
Sund said both devices were ‘hazardous and could cause great harm’ and that they have been turned over to the FBI ‘for further investigation and analysis’.
The police chief added that the suspicious vehicle was cleared but police arrested the vehicle’s owner and 13 additional suspects for unlawful entry of the Capitol.
He said: ‘The USCP is continuing to review surveillance video and open source material to identify others who may be subject to criminal charges.’
It comes as pressure grows on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment to oust Trump.
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for the immediate removal of Trump.
‘This president should not hold office one day longer,’ he said, adding that if the 25th amendment can’t be used, ‘Congress should reconvene to impeach the president.’
Earlier, Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger was the first republican lawmaker to call for the 25th amendment to be invoked.
Phil Scott, the Republican governor of Vermont, also made calls for use of the amendment, saying: ‘The fabric of our democracy and the principles of our republic are under attack by the president. Enough is enough. President Trump should resign or be removed from office by his cabinet, or by the congress.’
The outgoing Republican only has two weeks left of his presidency to serve before Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20th.
Although he has committed to an ‘orderly transition of power’ he has refused to condemn the mob violence and is still claiming to have won the US election.
Facebook and Instagram today moved to block the president’s accounts.
In a statement, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said that the risks of allowing the President to continue to use the website service during the transition period are ‘simply too great’.
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