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Angry supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol on Wednesday in a chaotic protest aimed at thwarting a peaceful transfer of power, forcing lawmakers to be rushed from the building and interrupting challenges to Joe Biden鈥檚 Electoral College victory.

Mr. Trump issued a restrained call for peace well after the melee was underway but did not urge supporters to disperse. Earlier he had egged them on to march to Capitol Hill. The Pentagon said about 1,100 District of Columbia National Guard members were being mobilized to help support law enforcement at the Capitol.

Wednesday鈥檚 ordinarily mundane procedure of certifying a new president was always going to be extraordinary, with Republican supporters of Mr. Trump vowing to protest results of an election that they have baselessly insisted was reversed by fraud. But even the unusual deliberations, which included the Republican vice president and Senate majority leader defying Mr. Trump鈥檚 demands, were quickly overtaken.

In a raucous, out-of-control scene, protesters fought past police and breached the building, shouting and waving Trump and American flags as they marched through the halls. One person was reported shot at the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the situation. That person鈥檚 condition was unknown.

The protesters abruptly interrupted the congressional proceedings in an eerie scene that featured official warnings directing people to duck under their seats for cover and put on gas masks after tear gas was used in the Capitol Rotunda.

With the crowds showing no signs of abating, Mr. Trump tweeted, 鈥淧lease support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!鈥�

Senators were being evacuated. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices.

Demonstrators fought with Capitol Police and then forced their way into the building, not long after a huge rally near the White House during which Mr. Trump egged them on to march to Capitol Hill.

Lawmakers had convened for an extraordinary joint session to confirm the Electoral College results.

Though fellow Republicans were behind the challenge to Mr. Biden鈥檚 306-232 Electoral College victory, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sought to lower tensions and argued against it. He warned the country 鈥渃annot keep drifting apart into two separate tribes鈥� with 鈥渟eparate facts.鈥�

Mr. McConnell declared, 鈥淭he voters, the courts, and the states all have spoken.鈥�

But other Republicans, including House GOP leaders among Mr. Trump鈥檚 allies were acting out the pleas of supporters at his huge Wednesday rally up Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House to 鈥渇ight for Trump.鈥�

鈥淲e have to fix this,鈥� said Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the GOP whip.

The last-gasp effort is all but certain to fail, defeated by bipartisan majorities in Congress prepared to accept the November results. Mr. Biden is to be inaugurated Jan. 20.

Still, Mr. Trump vowed to he would 鈥渘ever concede鈥� and urged the massive crowd to march to the Capitol where hundreds had already gathered under tight security.

鈥淲e will never give up,鈥� Mr. Trump told his noontime rally.

Vice President Mike Pence was closely watched as he stepped onto the dais to preside over the joint session in the House chamber.

Mr. Pence has a largely ceremonial role, opening the sealed envelopes from the states after they are carried in mahogany boxes used for the occasion, and reading the results aloud. But he was under growing pressure from Mr. Trump to overturn the will of the voters and tip the results in the president鈥檚 favor, despite having no legal power to affect the outcome.

鈥淒o it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!鈥� Mr. Trump tweeted Wednesday.

But Mr. Pence, in a statement shortly before presiding, defied Mr. Trump, saying he could not claim 鈥渦nilateral authority鈥� to reject the electoral votes that make Mr. Biden president.

Despite Mr. Trump鈥檚 repeated claims of voter fraud, election officials and his own former attorney general have said there were no problems on a scale that would change the outcome. All the states have certified their results as fair and accurate, by Republican and Democratic officials alike.

Arizona was the first of several states facing objections from the Republicans as Congress took an alphabetical reading of the election results. Then the chaos erupted.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writers Andrew Taylor, Jill Colvin, and Kevin Freking in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.