'Deeply Saddened', Rep. Dean Is Safe, Evacuated From U.S. Capitol

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Montgomery County's U.S. Representative in Congress, Madeleine Dean, shared that she is safe and has been evacuated following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by rioters supporting President Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon.

Dean and hundreds of her colleagues were on Capitol Hill for the special joint session of Congress Wednesday to certify the votes of the Electoral College naming Joe Biden the next President of the United States.

Dean said that she was "safe on the House floor" at 2:30 p.m., and by 3 p.m. shared that she was among those that had been moved out.

"I’ve been evacuated and I am finding (a) safe location. Please pray for peace in this nation," she said.

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Photos showed Dean among those moving through Congressional halls with a gas mask, after tear gas was deployed by police.

Several other members of the Pennsylvania delegation shared that they were also safe, and either sheltering or moving to another location.

Demonstrators gathered for a rally at which President Trump spoke earlier in the morning, reiterating claims about election fraud and that the presidency was being "stolen."

The protests have led to at least one person being shot. Reports from the scene indicated that demonstrators were moving away from the Capitol building in the later afternoon.

Dean had been optimistic earlier in the day that the proceedings of the special session, coupled with the projected Democratic victories in Georgia, would help the country move past the chaos of the election season. "It is a new day in America," she wrote Wednesday morning.