Meal distribution at DC charter schools - which is how many of the city's children eat - was paused because of Wednesday's violence at the Capitol

• Meal distribution at some DC schools was put on pause due to violence at the capitol.
• Several charter school networks have been providing free meals to hungry students, even while they learned from home.
• On Thursday, though, school buildings were closed because of the chaos in the city and families were unable to pick up bagged lunches.

Several charter schools cancelled remote classes on Thursday as a result of the violence and chaos at the Capitol building on Thursday.

By canceling school, so students and staff could regroup after a historic and unsettling evening, the on-site distribution of meals was also paused.

The KippDC and Friendship are the largest charter networks in DC and serve 11,000 students, Washington Post reporter Perry Stein tweeted.

"We paused remote learning and closed our buildings so staff could have time off to process yesterday's events and to support their mental health," Adam Rupe, a spokesman for KippDC told Insider. "We'll resume distribution and remote learning tomorrow morning."

KIPP DC educates 7,000 students, and several hundred of them participate in the meals programs, he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, dozens of violent Trump supporters obsessed with the false idea that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent breached the Capitol building.

Four people lost their lives in the attempted coup, and journalists and politicians were either sheltered in place or evacuated from the chaotic and dangerous scene.

Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a 6 p.m. curfew and state of emergency in the city, following what she called "textbook domestic terrorism."

Friendship schools, a network that serves grades 3 to 12, also closed its buildings on Thursday to ensure the safety" of staff and students.

"The values of democracy we know and cherish will not be deterred by lawlessness and chaos," a statement posted on the Friendship website said. "While we are deeply saddened with the current events taking place at the Capitol building, we wholeheartedly believe that democracy will prevail."

Friendship schools didn't immediately return a request for comment on how the siege at the Capitol is affecting their staff and students.

According to No Kid Hungry, around 11 million children come from food-insecure homes, meaning they don't always get enough food to stay healthy and nourished.

Even during the pandemic, when most schools were closed for some amount of time to in-person learning, districts around the US worked to figure out how to continue providing meals to the students who depend on them.

Expanded Coverage Module: capitol-siege-module