The chief of the armed forces in Egypt, General Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, announced the suspension of the current constitution in what the current presidency called a full military coup.
The elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was removed from office in the evening with the arrest of the head of the Muslim Brotherhood party happening simultaneously.
Justifying the military action as popular will, Sisi said,
“We will build an Egyptian society that is strong stable that will not exude any of its sons.”
Pre-empting the imminent end of presidency, Morsi earlier stated,
“There are still people in Egypt who believe in their right to democratic choice. Hundreds of thousands of them have gathered in support of democracy and the presidency. And they will not leave in the face of this attack. To move them there will have to be violence.
According to a military spokesman, Morsi is being held in an undisclosed location.