Middle East Twitter puts comic spin on Capitol Hill riots

Social media users in the region offer lighter takes on the assault in Washington

A rioter sits in the Senate Chamber after Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol building in Washington on Wednesday. Getty

As events unfolded on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, the words Trump, Capitol Hill and America were trending as Twitter users rushed to share their reactions on the escalation of events as Trump supporters stormed the US legislature on Wednesday evening.

Some in the Middle East saw a comical side to the chaos, drawing comparisons with recent events in the region.

Referencing the time that Iraqi protesters stormed parliament in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone in 2016, American reporter Steven Nabil drew parallels with last night's events.

Vice News correspondent Hind Hassan shared an image of an American rioter walking away with the congress podium suggesting that it be kept at the Baghdad Museum, in a mocking reference to the looting of Middle Eastern artefacts from the museum soon after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

Dubai-born Rizwan Farooq suggested Iraq and Afghanistan send troops to keep the peace in Washington – an ironic reversal of the role adopted by the US in those two countries.

Lebanese Marc Rouhan offered wishful thinking for a positive outcome from the riots, in the hope it would have a positive bearing on Lebanon's inflation crisis.

Lebanon's permanent representative to the UN, Mohamad Safa, pointed out the irony of the democratic process being disrupted by violence in the US.