We're pausing our live coverage on the aftermath of Wednesday's events at the US Capitol for now.

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The majority of Americans questioned (57%) said they thought President Donald Trump should be immediately removed from office following events in the Capitol on Wednesday, a Reuters/Ipsos poll suggests.

As many as seven out of 10 Trump supporters - those who voted for Trump in November's presidential election - who participated in the national public opinion survey on Thursday and Friday condemned the violence, which led to the deaths of four civilians and a police officer.

The poll used a sample of 1,005 Americans aged 18 or over., external The sample included 490 Democrat voters, 363 Republican voters and a number of independent voters.

The siege at the Capitol, as US Congress attempted to certify Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election, took place just hours after Trump addressed supporters and told them: "We will never give up; we will never concede."

Image source, Reuters

Following Wednesday’s events, there's been much discussion about whether Trump can be removed from office, as Democrats are demanding.

There are two ways that this could be done.

25th amendment

The 25th amendment to the constitution allows the vice-president to become acting president when a sitting president is deemed unable to continue his or her duties.

Section four of the amendment allows the vice-president and a majority of the cabinet to make this determination.

Impeachment

For a president to be impeached, charges must first be brought to the House and passed in a simple majority vote.

It's possible the Democrats could do this next week, making Trump the first president in history to be impeached twice.

Proceedings then move to the Senate but it's seen as unlikely that there would be enough time to complete the trial there. Even if this did happen, a two-thirds majority is required to vote for a president's removal, which would involve a lot of Republicans having to support it.

We've put together a guide on these processes, if you'd like to read it.

Image source, EPA

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 (£37,000) for information as investigators try to track down those responsible for planting two pipe bombs in Republican and Democratic party headquarters during the attack on the US Capitol.

Police received reports of suspected devices on Wednesday. Today, the FBI said in a statement that rewards would be issued on information that leads to "the location, arrest and conviction" of suspects.

Bomb technicians used water cannon , externalto break the devices apart and render them harmless during the riots in Washington DC, ABC News reported.

While rioters in the nation's capital made headlines, Trump supporters rallied at state capitols across America to protest against the election results.

In the state of Washington, a crowd marched from the capitol and broke in to the grounds of the governor's mansion.

Image source, Getty Images

In a break with her party, Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski says it's time for Trump to leave.

"He has caused enough damage,” Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday., external

"I think he should leave. He said he’s not going to show up. He’s not going to appear at the inauguration. He hasn’t been focused on what is going on with Covid," she said.

The senator added that Trump has been either golfing or "fuming and throwing every single person who has been loyal and faithful to him under the bus" - including Vice-President Mike Pence.

"He only wants to stay there for his ego. He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I don’t think he’s capable of doing a good thing."

When asked about her ties to the Republican Party, Murkowski said: "If the Republican Party has become nothing more than the party of Trump, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me."

Our North America reporter Anthony Zurcher noted that Murkowski won her senate race as a write-in candidate, and could survive without the Republican Party.

A prominent left-wing activist from Utah was among the pro-Trump mob, according to multiple videos from Wednesday's invasion of the Capitol.

But John Sullivan, 26, says he was just there to "document" it.

Sullivan is the founder of Insurgence USA, which calls itself "a group for racial justice and police reform".

In a series of media appearances after the riot, he defended his involvement, saying it was important for people "to see the truth" and "see it raw".

When air force veteran and Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was shot inside the building - the first known casualty of the violence - Sullivan and an associate were at close range. They later provided video to the Washington Post.

Sullivan - who currently faces two criminal charges that stem from a separate protest in Utah - also spoke to major media outlets, including CNN and Fox News, on Wednesday and Thursday.

Following these appearances, he was briefly detained by DC police, but he does not appear to have been arrested and formally charged for his role in the security breach.

On the heels of the impeachment news, the White House has responded by saying this is a time for coming together.

"As President Trump said yesterday, this is a time for healing and unity as one nation," a White House statement to CNN reads.

"A politically motivated impeachment against a president with 12 days remaining in his term will only serve to further divide our great country."

Here's more on those impending impeachment articles.

According to a four-page draft posted by NBC News, the first charge against Trump is "incitement of insurrection".

"Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States," the draft reads.

The lawmakers accuse the president of making statements that encouraged and resulted in "imminent lawless action at the Capitol". The draft also says this was "consistent with his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct" the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's win.

"He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States."

Three Democrats - Congressmen Ted Lieu, David Cicilline and Jamie Raskin - are planning on introducing articles of impeachment against President Trump on Monday.

Articles of impeachment are charges brought against a president by the House of Rperesentatives. If the House votes to pass them, proceedings move to the Senate, which decides whether or not to convict.

CBS News, the BBC's US partner, reports that the bill has nearly 160 co-sponsors in the House. The three authors reportedly began drafting it while they were sheltering-in-place during Wednesday's riot.

Dozens of people have been taken into custody as the dust settles from Wednesday's violence at the US Capitol.

Here are some of the offenders:

• Derrick Evans, a Republican lawmaker in West Virginia, streamed video on Facebook of his participation in the pro-Trump mob. He is now facing charges.
• An Arkansas man was pictured in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, with his feet up on her desk. He was arrested today.
• Charges have now been filed against an Alabama man found in possession of 11 Molotov cocktails and other weapons.

Image source, Getty Images

A Republican lawmaker who had been in office for less than a week when she invoked German dictator Adolf Hitler in a Washington speech has apologised for saying that she agreed with the mass murderer.

Illinois Congresswoman Mary Miller had said in a speech on Tuesday outside the Capitol, one day before her fellow Trump supporters ransacked the building, that Hitler had been "right".

Miller told the crowd: "You know, if we win a few elections we’re still going to be losing unless we win the hearts of our children.

"It’s the battle. Hitler was right on one thing - that whoever has the youth has the future."

Image source, Getty Images

The comments drew large-scale condemnation, with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum saying in a statement that it "unequivocally condemns any leader trying to advance a position by claiming Adolf Hitler was ‘right.’"

Under Hitler, millions of Jews and other minority groups were murdered across Europe by Germany and its allies during World War Two.

On Friday, Miller insisted that she is not anti-semitic and accused other of "trying to intentionally twist my words".

"I sincerely apologise for any harm my words caused and regret using a reference to one of the most evil dictators in history to illustrate the dangers that outside influences can have on our youth," she said.

Correction 23rd June 2022: This post originally described Mary Miller as having praised Hitler and has been amended to make clear that she invoked Hitler in her speech.

Lindsey Graham, a senior Republican member of the US Senate, is the latest target of harassment by Trump supporters in Washington DC.

On Wednesday - after an armed mob invaded the US Capitol building - Graham joined other members of Congress in returning to certify the election results.

In a speech before his colleagues, he declared Joe Biden to be "lawfully elected" and thus "the legitimate president".

On Friday, a crowd of angry Trump loyalists confronted him in a DC-area airport, labelling him a "traitor".

"You don't represent us anymore," shouted one, as Graham - surrounded by security - walked away.

Earlier this week, videos posted to social media showed another pro-Trump crowd heckling another Republican senator - Mitt Romney - both while he waited for his flight and on board the plane.

In response to this week's events, the Association of Flight Attendants - a labour union that represents nearly 50,000 flight attendants - called for a travel blacklist of such passengers for unruly conduct that endangers flight safety.

Zhaoyin Feng
BBC Chinese, Washington DC

Image source, Getty Images

When Washington is mired in division and dysfunction, the leadership in Beijing is consolidating power, silencing dissent and advancing technologies. China is able to leverage the lack of stability in the US to promote two of its arguments.

The first one is that democracy is messy and potentially violent, which does not make it an ideal political model for China.

Second, the West is applying a double standard in its behaviour toward China.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying drew comparisons between the Washington riots with pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong: “Seeing those scenes in the United States has brought back a sense of déjà vu.”

She criticised western politicians and media for glorifying the Hong Kong protesters while condemning those storming into the US Congress.

As many have pointed out, despite the superficial similarities of the two events, they are fundamentally different. Hong Kong activists were demanding a fully democratic election, while the Capitol rioters were trying to overturn the result of such a vote.

But there is little doubt the mayhem in the US has reinforced Beijing’s messages and further damaged Washington’s reputation around the globe.

Analysts have labeled the Capitol siege as the day when "the post-American era" began. Many in and outside of China believe the new era will be “the China century”. If that's so, what would it look like? This is just one among the many big questions arising from the extraordinary events in Washington this week.

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington

In the wake of Wednesday's assault, dozens of people have been arrested - many for curfew violations - but most of the culprits of the Capitol building break-in remain at large.

These intruders could be charged with an array of crimes, ranging from trespassing and other relatively minor ones to serious offences involving firearms and explosive devices. They could be sentenced to many years in prison.

Which is why the FBI is now asking: do you recognise anyone in this picture?

If so, agents want to hear from you. They want everyone in Washington DC, and across the US, to join their crime-solving team.

Read the full story about the FBI's outreach and citizen-sleuthing here.

Image source, FBI

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau began his press conference today by addressing the "assault on democracy by violent rioters" that he says was "incited by the current president and other politicians".

He says that US democracy has shown itself to be "resilient" since Wednesday's raid, adding that he has discussed the situation with the premiers of Canada's provinces last night.

"Democracy is not automatic. It takes work every day," says the liberal leader who has been forced to bite his tongue on more than a few occasion over the last four years.

President-elect Biden says there should be a full investigation into the security breakdown at the Capitol.

He emphasised that the rioters who broke in were "thugs".

"These are a bunch of thugs. They're terrorists, domestic terrorists," he said, adding that they should be prosecuted.

Biden also said the unfolding of the situation, with the "active encouragement of a sitting president", should be investigated.

"The idea that thousands of people could be marching up the steps of the United States Capitol, breaking the windows, breaking doors, forcing their way in... and it looked like you had some of the Capitol police taking selfies with these people.

"That has to be thoroughly investigated, the authorities responsible have to be held accountable for the failures that occurred and we have to make sure that this can never ever happen again."

Biden added: "This reminded me more of states I've visited...in tin horn dictatorships."

Asked if he believes that law enforcement will be able to secure his inauguration ceremony on 20 January, when he officially takes over the keys to the White House, Biden says he has "great confidence in the Secret Service" and the inauguration committee.

"I have confidence in the planning that has been underway before this and continues with the Secret Service," he says during his speech from Delaware.

When asked how he feels about Trump skipping the inauguration ceremony, Biden calls the decision "one of the few things he and I agree on," adding that is a good thing Trump won't be there.

Biden adds that Vice-President Mike Pence - who certified Biden's win on Wednesday after lawmakers retook control of the chamber - is still "welcome" to attend.

President-elect Joe Biden says he's more focused on addressing the pandemic than impeaching his predecessor.

When asked about Democrats in the House of Representatives saying they would introduce articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, Biden said his "number one concern" was getting Covid under control.

"I'm focused on the virus, vaccine and economic growth," Biden answered, adding that he plans on introducing legislation immediately upon taking office to deal with the virus and the economy.

"What the Congress decides to do is for them to decide," he said. "We're gonna do our job and Congress can decide how to proceed with theirs."

Prof Bruce Ackerman from Yale law school says he believes President Trump will pardon himself before leaving office. But he told BBC World News it didn't mean he wouldn't face charges.

"The president can only pardon people for their offences against federal law," Prof Ackerman said.

"There is every reason to believe, however, that President Trump will be charged with a large number of criminal offences especially under the law of the state of New York," he added.

President Trump faces numerous investigations, including New York State inquiries into whether he misled tax authorities, banks or business partners. He has repeatedly dismissed the investigations, calling them a "witch hunt"