WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Lawmakers in the Capitol Building were met with unrest as they took to Washington D.C. to vote on the presidential election.
A group of protesters made their way up the steps to the Capitol Building, eventually forcing lawmakers out of chambers and into lockdown.
Lawmakers from North Carolina representing areas of the Triad in Washington D.C. were inside and had to get to a safe place.
Congressman Ted Budd (NC-District 13) tweeted that he was on the House floor when it happened.
He later released a video on his Twitter page. He said he was safe and condemned the violence.
"Mob rule is not representative of our country. That is not how we do things," said Budd.
Congresswoman Deborah Ross, who represents the second congressional district in the Raleigh area, had to shelter in her office when chaos at the Capitol erupted. Her office is just one block away.
"We could hear the protestors outside. We could see some of them," she said.
But, she wouldn't be able to watch for long. Soon her office building would go into lockdown.
"We were instructed to pull down our window shades get away from the doors and get away from the windows," said Ross.
Congresswoman Kathy Manning also tweeted out a statement after the chaos broke out.
"The violent insurrection that took place at the United States Capitol today is a dark moment in our nation’s history. Armed rioters, purposely incited by President Trump, stormed the Capitol, interrupting the certification of the Electoral College vote," she said.
Bradley Dixon from Alamance County was also there. He drove to DC to protest Wednesday. He showed us what he was seeing as curfew in DC set in.
"It's pretty tense. That is a line of, I believe, Capitol police," he said.
Dixon says he wanted to go to DC to protest and have his opinions about the election heard.
He says he didn't get there until after police took control of the situation.