London, Jan 7, 2021-
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel on Thursday held US President Donald Trump responsible for the “awful” scenes and violence at the Capitol Hill as his supporters stormed the Congress on Wednesday when a joint session was underway to certify the electoral college votes affirming the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
“He basically has made a number of comments yesterday that helped fuel that violence and he didn’t actually do anything to de-escalate that whatsoever… what we’ve seen is completely unacceptable. His comments directly led to the violence, and so far he has failed to condemn that violence and that is completely wrong,” she told the BBC.
Patel, the first Indian-origin woman to hold the post, said that the scenes were “awful beyond words”.
At least four people, including a woman, were killed as protesters went on rampage in the US Congress building, soon after Trump, addressing a rally of his die-hard supporters, urged them to march to the Capitol to register their protests and oppose the electoral “fraud” in the presidential elections.
The US “needs to move on” and have the transition of power from Trump to Biden, Patel added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had condemned the “disgraceful scenes” and called for a “peaceful and orderly transfer of power”. (Agency)
