BRITISH Home Secretary Priti Patel blamed President Donald Trump for the violence at the US Capitol Building in Washington DC that left four dead in scenes that shocked the World.
Patel said Mr Trumps “incendiary comments” direcrly provoked the shocking violence from his supporters.
The thug army of so-called patriots tried to prevent President-Elect Joe Biden taking to the White House.
The Home Secretary said the Republican’s statement in which he said “We love you” to the rioters and repeated his unproven claims of electoral fraud did “very little to de-escalate the situation”, and urged him to condemn their actions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier called for a “peaceful and orderly transfer of power” after supporters of the outgoing President breached barricades and staged an occupation of the home of American democracy in Washington DC on Wednesday.
Protesters clashed with police, tear gas was dispersed and one woman died after being shot inside the Capitol, while three other people died after suffering “medical emergencies”, according to police chief Robert Contee.
Twitter and Facebook temporarily suspended Mr Trump from posting after he published a video statement repeating falsehoods over the validity of the election and urged supporters to “go home” from the house of Congress as politicians met to confirm Mr Biden’s victory.
Ms Patel first accused the president of doing “very little to de-escalate the situation” and, during an interview with Sky News, called for him to “absolutely condemn everything that has taken place”.
But she went further in a subsequent appearance on BBC Breakfast to blame Mr Trump for fanning the flames and provoking the scenes that marred American democracy.
“His comments directly led to the violence and so far he has failed to condemn that violence and that is completely wrong,” the Home Secretary said.
“He basically has made a number of comments yesterday that helped to fuel that violence and he didn’t do anything to de-escalate that whatsoever.”
The Prime Minister labelled the scenes “disgraceful”.
He tweeted: “The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.”
His comments followed condemnation by a host of British politicians from all parties, who described the scenes in Washington as “profoundly shocking” and “utterly horrifying”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called them “horrendous”, tweeting: “These are not ‘protesters’ – this a direct attack on democracy and legislators carrying out the will of the American people.”
