WASHINGTON — Virginia Governor Ralph Northam says he is sending 200 state troopers and members of the state National Guard to the U.S. Capitol.
Northam tweeted that at D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's request, he would send "members of the Virginia National Guard along with 200 Virginia State Troopers."
The announcement came amid violence and pro-Trump protests that have caused U.S. Capitol Building to go under a lockdown. Bowser has imposed a city curfew, beginning at 6 p.m.
Northam later tweeted that he was declaring a curfew in Alexandria and Arlington County similar to the one issued by Bowser in D.C. The tweet said with few exceptions, the curfew was in place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Northam also declared a state of emergency in Virginia so that the state could continue to respond to the need.
Guard troops from D.C.'s border states started to move in after the Department of Defense first denied D.C National Guard troops to be deployed to the Capitol, according to the D.C Council in a statement to WUSA9.
U.S. Capitol Police ordered the Capitol locked down Wednesday and evacuations of two Capitol campus buildings — the Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building and the Cannon House Office Building — as protests rage at the Capitol complex.
Shortly after President Trump addressed his supporters vowing "never to concede" the election in a speech on the Ellipse, large crowds of pro-Trump protesters marched to the U.S. Capitol and squared off with Capitol Police.
Protesters broke through several barriers placed at the steps of Capitol, while the certification of Electoral College votes began inside.
Protesters took control of the top of the steps that are entrances to the House and Senate chambers on the back of the Capitol.
WUSA9 contributed to this report.