WASHINGTON (AP) — All four members of Maine’s congressional delegation were safe after demonstrators stormed the Capitol building to delay Congress from certifying the results of November’s election.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called the actions by supporters of Republican President Donald Trump “a dangerous, shameful and outrageous attack on our democracy” but said Congress will not be deterred from its duty.
“We will affirm the certified results of the presidential election,” she said Wednesday evening in a statement.
Independent Sen. Angus King said the the protesters have been fed “a consistent and increasingly inflammatory diet of manifestly untrue statements and baseless conspiracy theories.”
“President Trump cannot be verbally or silently enabled any longer by my good faith colleagues – whomever does not speak out is complicit, he said.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, put the blame for the chaos squarely on the president.
“This unprecedented lawlessness was incited by our outgoing president because he is determined to undermine the peaceful transfer of power,” Pingree said in a statement.
Pingree was outside the Capitol complex, her office said. Collins and independent Sen. Angus King, along with Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, were also in safe locations, officials said.
In Maine, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said she doesn’t believe the violence at the Capitol is sanctioned by most Americans.
“But it is a clear and troubling reflection of our fractured nation. The violence must end, and all leaders, of every political stripe, including the president, must forcefully denounce these actions and defend our democracy,” she said.
