A turbulent situation developed in Washington D.C. on Wednesday as a substantial number of individuals demonstrating support for President Trump entered the U.S. Capitol Building.

These Trump supporters gathered in the nation’s capital following a rally hosted by the President earlier in the day near the White House. The rally’s purpose was to voice opposition to lawmakers as they convened on Wednesday to formally validate the electoral victory of President-elect Joe Biden.

During his event, Trump urged his followers to continue their protests against Congress, falsely asserting that Vice President Mike Pence possessed the authority to overturn the election outcome. While the circumstances are still developing, demonstrators breached the Capitol building, and reports of injuries, including at least one gunshot wound, have been confirmed.

As supporters of the President moved toward the Capitol steps, displaying “Make America Great Again” hats and “Stop the Steal” banners, Trump further encouraged them with statements involving unsubstantiated allegations. “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” Trump communicated in a tweet. “USA demands the truth!”

Twitter added a disclaimer to the tweet, labeling Trump’s claims of election fraud as “disputed.” Following the entry of his supporters into the Capitol building, the President appeared to moderate his calls to action, requesting that supporters maintain a peaceful demeanor.

Update: Twitter has restricted the sharing and other engagement features on Trump’s tweet, but has not currently placed it behind a warning message. The company stated it is “exploring other escalated enforcement actions” but did not provide further details regarding these potential measures.

The Stop the Steal campaign originated from online conspiracy theories promoting Trump’s unsubstantiated assertions that Democrats had manipulated the presidential election. In actuality, the U.S. election results clearly favored Biden, although vote counting took place over an extended timeframe, as anticipated, due to a significant increase in mail-in voting related to the pandemic.

Facebook took steps to limit Stop the Steal groups shortly after the election, disabling the hashtag for violating its policies concerning election misinformation. “The group was organized around the delegitimization of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from some members of the group,” stated Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone at the time.

Advocates of the Stop the Steal movement also established a presence on numerous other platforms, including Reddit, Twitter, and alternative social networks such as Gab and Parler, which have attracted users with far-right viewpoints through policies more permissive of extremist content. The assemblage at the capitol also shares a notable connection with QAnon, a collection of conspiracy theories that gained prominence on Facebook, YouTube, and other online platforms in recent years.

In a televised address on Wednesday, President-elect Joe Biden stated that the events unfolding at Capitol Hill “bordered on sedition.”

“At their best, the words of a president can inspire,” Biden said. “At their worst, they can incite.”