”We heard reports of threats and left immediately,” said Deputy Secretary of State Jordon Fuchs, according to AJP.
AJP told ABC News that the protesters were members of a militia.
The development occurred as protesters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, clashing with police. The breach forced Congress to go into lockdown, halting deliberations in both Chambers on objections to the electoral votes from the presidential election.
Earlier in the day, thousands attended a pro-Trump rally contesting the results of the 2020 election. Trump has deployed the National Guard to quell the protestors and urged them to “go home.”
Meanwhile, in the Senate runoff elections, Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock beat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler, TV networks and Edison Research projected. Democrat Jon Ossoff held a narrow lead over Republican David Perdue in the other race, with a final outcome not expected until later on Wednesday.
With 98 percent reporting, Warnock was ahead of Loeffler by 1.2 percentage points, roughly 50,000 votes, while Ossoff led Perdue by more than 12,000 votes, according to Edison Research.
Reuters contributed to this report.
