THE US Capitol was in lockdown yesterday after protesters breached barricades amid violent clashes between President Donald Trump’s supporters and Washington DC police.

Both chambers of Congress abruptly recessed as they were debating the Electoral College vote that gave Joe Biden the presidency. There was confusion in the House chamber as the Capitol doors were locked and debate was suspended.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the pictures coming from Washington DC were “horrifying”.

She tweeted: “The scenes from the Capitol are utterly horrifying. Solidarity with those in the US on the side of democracy and the peaceful and constitutional transfer of power.

“Shame on those who have incited this attack on democracy.”

An announcement was played inside the Capitol as lawmakers were meeting and expected to vote to affirm Joe Biden’s victory.

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Due to an “external security threat” no-one could enter or exit the Capitol complex, the recording said. The skirmishes occurred outside in the very spot where president-elect Biden will be inaugurated in just two weeks. Protesters tore down metal barricades at the bottom of the Capitol’s steps and were met by officers in riot gear.

Some tried to push past the officers who held shields and officers could be seen firing pepper spray into the crowd to keep them back. Some in the crowd were shouting “traitors” as officers tried to keep them back. A suspicious package was also reported in the area, Capitol police said.

Members of Congress inside the House chamber were told by police to put on gas masks after tear gas was dispersed in the Capitol Rotunda amid the protests.

Law enforcement instructed politicians to retrieve masks from under their seats amid the clashes.

After seemingly egging on the protests, Trump tweeted to his supporters to “stay peaceful” as they violently clash with law enforcement and breached the Capitol building.

The SNP’s Ian Blackford, tweeted his view of the scenes in DC, said: “The end of @realDonaldTrump presidency cannot come quick enough.

“What a legacy the events of today are to his time in office. Shameful, shocking an affront to democracy.”

Earlier the presidency of Trump lay in tatters as he was blamed for the Republican Party losing control of the Senate.

The Reverend Raphael Warnock beat Kelly Loeffler to become the first black senator of Georgia while Jon Ossof defeated David Perdue to become the youngest member of the Senate.

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Trump pleaded with his vice-president Mike Pence to overrule the electoral college vote. However, Pence had already indicated his stance saying he had no “unilateral authority to decide presidential contests” and could not change the results of the election.

Pence wrote to members of Congress: “It is my considered judgement that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not.”

That did not stop a string of Trump-supporting Republicans in both houses raising objections to the formal count of the votes.

Before the protests, the Republicans buying into Trump’s fantasy of a fraudulent election were sternly rebuked by the party’s senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.

He said: “We cannot simply declare ourselves a national board of elections on steroids. The voters, the courts and the states have all spoken. They’ve all spoken.

“If we overrule them, it would damage our republic forever.

“If this election were overturned by mere accusations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral.”