There were shocking scenes at the US Capitol when a joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate had to be abandoned as gun weilding protesters broke into the building and run amok. The lawmakers were completing the official next step in the US presidential election process of certifying the results from each state - as written in the US Constitution. The session was presided over by the Vice President, Mike Pence.
The protesters had made their way from a rally outside the White House addressed by President Donald Trump where he continued to maintain that he had won the election, and that the Democrats had stolen it from him. This despite that fact despite many court challenges the election had repeatedly been declared free and fair and the popular vote had shown a more than 7 million vote advantage for Joe Biden.
Lawmakers from both parties were so angered by the disruption of the duties that they decided they would continue their sitting into the night. It was around 3am when they finally completed their work and Joe Biden's victory was certified. He will be sworn in on January the 20th.
The shocking scenes came just hours after it was announced that the Democrats had won both seats in the re-run of the Georgia Senate elections. The wins for Senators Warnock and Ossoff gives control of the US Senate to the Democrats, who already have control of the House of Representatives - and from January 20th the Presidency.
Both Twitter and Facebook blocked Donald Trump's accounts following the mob attack on the US Congress as it was in session as he was seen to be using lies about the election to stoke the violent action. It was later reported on CNN that Vice President Mike Pence's official account had un-followed President Donald Trump's official Twitter account.