Capitol riots: How it feels to be an American in the UK

"When I saw what was happening on social media, my first reaction was shock".

That's how Whitney Simon felt watching pictures and videos come through of the mob who stormed Washington DC's Capitol building on Wednesday.

She's a black American who moved to the UK from San Francisco two years ago.

Four people died during the riot, which broke out before the US Congress certified Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election.

Natalia has lived in Yorkshire since 2018

"To see the scenes of people breaking down the doors into the Capitol, people huddling under desks in active shooter scenes was just really shocking and surreal," says Whitney.

She says she expected protests over Joe Biden's victory, "but not that level of an attempted coup".

These thoughts were shared by Natalia Sketchley, who moved from Philadelphia to Yorkshire in 2018.

"I watched the speech Trump gave, riling up these so-called protesters," she tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

Dusk falls around the US Capitol as Trump supporters continue their occupation of its front steps

"And I said to my husband, 'something is going to happen', everything has been very tense for the past few months so I saw it blowing up in some way."

Jacob Anderley, who moved from California to Portsmouth, says he didn't feel angry about what was happening at home, more frustrated that what had been building for years had "come to a head".

"I was just glued to rolling news, watching this unfold in real time.

"I'm 23 years old so this is probably one of the biggest things that's happened in the United States since I was four."

"Seeing the vitriol and the absolute nastiness of the whole thing was really concerning," he added.

'He continues to feed the flames'

One protester is seen carrying a plinth from a room at the US Capitol

Donald Trump had been building up to the date of 6th January for weeks, through speeches and on social media as he made continued claims of election fraud which haven't been substantiated.

He had told his supporters to come to Washington and challenge Congress over the election of Joe Biden.

"I have to put the blame on the President," Natalia says.

"He didn't stop it, he riled them up, he continues to feed the flames."

"This all started when Trump was elected," Whitney adds.

"Here we are over the course of four years, this moment has culminated all of that."

Some of the protesters wore face paint and costumes

"It makes you question what it means to be an American.

"I've been thinking about that for a long time and it's like there are clauses that it's the land of the free if you're white and male, but if you're a person of colour, it's slightly different."

'There is a racial issue in America'

Whitney moved from the US to London

Protestors surged past barricades to get into the Capitol building.

"In the summer [at Black Lives Matter protests] you couldn't get past a barricade without being pushed back," Natalia says.

"Even when lots of people were there protesting peacefully - but yesterday people were armed with weapons.

"I don't understand why the people yesterday were seemingly getting more respect than the ones who are protesting police brutality," she adds.

Whitney says the way white rioters were treated at the Capitol, compared to BLM protestors in the summer proves "there is a racial issue in America" and that "this is the perfect example".

Several protesters are detained by heavily-armed police

"It just really highlights why the Black Lives Matter movement is such a big movement and people were so riled up in the summer like it is clear, it is clear when it comes to police brutality, there really is only one group that it seems is the target of that," Whitney adds.

Jacob says seeing how the rioters we're described on social media and news networks in the US has been a "real litmus test" for how Americans feel about BLM.

"I've seen people make a post about this being an attempted coup or violent insurgency and then people comparing it to Black Lives Matter," he says.

"But they burned down a Target store - do you think the US Capitol building and a Target are the same?"

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