Trump 'left everyone in Capitol for dead'

Senators watching Donald Trump's second impeachment trial have been shown new dramatic and graphic video of an attack by his supporters at the US Capitol.

Using Mr Trump's own words and tweets against him, Democrats prosecuting the case argued he had acted as "inciter-in-chief" on the day and its run-up.

In at times emotional testimony, impeachment managers methodically pieced together the violence.

Unreleased security footage also showed how close rioters came to US lawmakers.

Police inside were shown desperately ushering politicians to safety, sometimes within yards of rioters breaking their way into the building's chambers.

In frenzied audio, security officials were heard asking for support and telling how crowds were using weapons like bats and tear gas against them.

Delegate Stacey Plaskett, presenting evidence, argued that the former president had "deliberately encouraged" the violence and "put a target on the backs" of senior figure, including his own Vice-President Mike Pence.

The building was stormed last month after thousands gathered in support of false claims that widespread fraud denied Mr Trump victory.

Five people died, including a Capitol police officer, as a mob breached the building where the election result was being certified.

Mr Trump's lawyers will present the case for the defence later this week, but have already argued the trial against him is politically motivated and unconstitutional.

A two-thirds majority is required to convict Mr Trump in the evenly split 100-seat Senate, but an acquittal looks likely as the vast majority of Republican senators have remained loyal to him so far.

If convicted, he could be barred from holding office again.

What happened on Wednesday?

After a procedural vote about the constitutionality of proceedings on Tuesday, Senators sat through the first day of evidence in the trial in which each side has 16 hours to present their case.

Lead manager Jamie Raskin argued Mr Trump was no "innocent bystander" to the violence having had "praised, encouraged and cultivated" it for months before.

Managers used social media posts and clips of Mr Trump to illustrate how he spent weeks pushing a "Big Lie" that the election had been stolen from him.

They forensically dissected footage of the 6 January speech they say he used to "inflame" supporters further before directing them to march to the Capitol.

Screenshots from pro-Trump websites were shown as evidence that radicals in his base were emboldened by his rhetoric to pre-plan the attack and spoke openly about their ambitions for violence toward lawmakers.