Pictures of the Year 2021: Scenes from US Capitol as rioters storm building

Rioters scaling the United States Capitol, marching with Confederate flags and riot gear. Lawmakers scurrying off the floor of the Senate, ducking for safety. Capitol Police officers standing near a barricaded door with guns drawn, guarding the House chamber. These are among the stunning images from a historic day on which a mob of people loyal to President Trump broke into the Capitol to try to prevent lawmakers from certifying the Electoral College count to confirm President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory. Above, rioters incited by President Donald Trump storm the Capitol building in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.

Spectators on the National Mall as President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on the Ellipse Grounds at the White House in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump supporters broke through a police barrier outside the Capitol.

Supporters of President Donald Trump climb on walls at the U.S. Capitol during a protest against the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, January 6, 2021.

Supporters of US President Donald Trump clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

Supporters of US President Donald Trump, including member of the QAnon conspiracy group Jake Angeli, aka Yellowstone Wolf (C), enter the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification.

In this file photo taken on January 06, 2021 supporters of US President Donald Trump protest outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

Insurrections loyal to President Donald Trump riot outside the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. For many rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol, self-incriminating messages, photos and videos that they broadcast on social media before, during and after the Jan. 6 insurrection are influencing even the sentences in their criminal cases.

Insurrections loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

Then-President Donald Trump addresses supporters at a rally outside the White House on Jan. 6, 2021. “We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he told them.

Trump supporters forced entrance into the Capitol.

Kevin Seefried of Delaware, a supporter of President Donald Trump, carries a Confederate battle flag on the second floor of the U.S. Capitol near the entrance to the Senate after breaching security defenses, in Washington, January 6, 2021. A portrait of abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, who was beaten on the Senate floor after delivering a speech criticizing slavery in 1856, hangs above the couch.

Trump supporters caused extensive damage as they forced their way inside the Capitol on Wednesday, interrupting Congress as it attempted to certify President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory.

The Capitol Police tried to defend the House chamber from rioters.

People ducked for cover in the House gallery as rampaging Trump supporters made their way into the Capitol.

A Trump supporter at a desk in the U.S. Capitol.

Rioters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Egged on by soon-to-be former President Donald Trump, a crowd of demonstrators demanded that the electoral vote counting be stopped.

People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.

Police release tear gas into a crowd of pro-Trump protesters during clashes at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021.

Insurrections loyal to President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.

An explosion caused by a police munition is seen while supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump riot in front of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington.

Members of the National Guard rest in the Capitol Visitors Center on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 13, 2021, ahead of an expected House vote impeaching US President Donald Trump.

Richard Barnett, a supporter of US President Donald Trump sits inside the office of US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as he protest inside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 6, 2021.

One rioter hung from the balcony in the Senate chamber.

U.S. Capitol police officers aim their weapons at the main door in the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., helps ATF police officers clean up debris and personal belongings strewn across the floor of the Rotunda in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, after protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington.