WASHINGTON, D.C. — A top South Florida lawmaker says "terrorists" are behind a deadly breach at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Speaking to WPTV while locked down in his office at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Florida, said he wasn't surprised the violence escalated so quickly.
"Should we have anticipated this? Of course we should have anticipated this," Rep. Deutch said. "We knew that there were thousands of people descending on the Capitol in response to the urging of the president to come out and block the process that was going forward to ensure peaceful transition of power."
WATCH INTERVIEW WITH REP. DEUTCH:
Rep. Deutch, whose district covers Broward County to southern Palm Beach County, said speakers at a rally ahead of Wednesday's joint session of Congress to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the November election were "encouraging violence."
"The fault lies with these people who staged insurrection. The rioters, the terrorists, whatever you can them," Deutch said.
The congressman said he was on the House floor just before the security breach, and returned to his office to shelter in place.
Deutch said the key to stopping the unrest in Washington is for supporters of President Trump to acknowledge the results of the election.
"The best thing we do to address to the vitriol, to address what we saw happen today in our nation's capital is to stop trying to reverse the outcome of this election," Deutch said.