An Irish Washington DC police officer has said last night’s riots at the US Capitol should be treated as domestic terrorism.

Four people died when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building last night - with one woman shot and killed by police and three others dying following ‘medical emergencies.’

President Trump repeatedly failed to call on his supporters to pull back from the building as the scenes unfolded and has been accused of increasing tensions throughout the day.

He eventually released a video message in which he again made claims about election fraud before asking his supporters to “go home and go home peacefully.”

On The Hard Shoulder this evening, Tipperary native and Washington DC Metropolitan Police Officer Mark Kirwan said the force is in “complete shellshock” this afternoon.

“This wasn’t a protest,” he said. “This was domestic terrorism.”

“The fact is that pipe bombs were found and Molotov cocktails were found and these domestic terrorists used chemical irritants against the Capitol Police.”

Items left on the floor at the entrance of the US Capitol building the morning after a riot by pro-Trump supporters, 07-01-2021. Image: Rod Lamkey - CNP/DPA/PA Images

He said the Capitol Police force runs an eight-block area around the Capitol Building and the Metropolitan Police are not allowed to enter without permission from Congress – something that only happened later in the evening.

“They were completely overwhelmed,” he said. “There was no way the amount of officers that were there would have been able to handle such a crowd.

“Also, the fact the crowd was armed with chemical irritants – you know, once you are sprayed with chemical irritant, it is very hard to do your job. We had a lot of injuries; a lot of police officers some knocked unconscious.”

"Absolute disgrace"

Mr Kirwan said a full investigation must be carried out into claims people in uniform were seen taking selfies with the rioters and moving barricades out of their way.

“I think until a complete analysis of what happened and how they reacted is carried out, we can’t really give a lot of answers,” he said. “Other than the fact that it was an absolute disgrace.”

Police with guns drawn watch as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol, 06-01-2021. Image: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

He said the National Guard can only be called into Washington DC by the White House and the order was not given until much later in the evening.

“It just goes to show that it was completely, completely misread,” he said.

“I can give you an example. On June 1st 2020, during the protests on the street, Trump had arranged for not just National Guard but for airmen to fly in from all over the country.

“They were deployed on the corners of the city which frustrated us a local police department because we were not notified and some of the units that came in were not wearing identification so we didn’t know if they were protesters of actually military of police or whatever.

“If you look back at June and the protests and the way the Presidency reacted to that and had so many different forces deployed to counteract the protesters – it was done so well.”

"Trump threw petrol on the fire"

He said he now feels that anyone who supports Trump’s ongoing fight against the election result should be classified as a domestic terrorist.

“Basically, what I think is that Trump threw petrol on the fire with his speech in the morning saying ‘we will march on the Capitol,’” he said.

“That was it. That was the nail in the coffin and a lot of people who are very loyal to him decided to do that.

“I would say that after yesterday, anybody who supports him or supports what he fights for; they have to be classified as domestic terrorists because you can’t siege the US Capitol Building and try and injure and hurt members of Congress, police officers and aides and whoever else was there.”

Mr Kirwan said the atmosphere in the US capital city is now “very, very nerve-wracking” and admitted that incidents like last night’s would make him consider a move home to Ireland.

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