“Tear gas” was used and police had to “draw guns” in the US Capitol on Wednesday, a congressman said, as supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the building in protest at his election defeat.

An AFP photographer described a smoky substance in the air in the large circular space under the Capitol dome as 100 or more protesters gathered.

“Police have asked us to get gas masks out as there has been tear gas used in the rotunda,” House Democrat Jim Himes said on Twitter.

“Chamber security and Capitol Police have their guns drawn as protesters bang on the front door of the chamber,” Representative Dan Kildee tweeted from inside the chamber.

“We have been instructed to lie down on the floor and put on our gas masks.”

The Washington Post reported that a person, unidentified, was shot inside the US Capitol after the mob breached the security cordon. The person (shot) was recieving emergency care, a source told the Post 

The House and Senate in the process of certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential elections.