US Elections: ‘Very Ugly Scenes’ As Pro-Trump Rally Turns Violent

Shocking images have emerged of bloodied and bruised protesters following a rally in Washington DC in support of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

Philip Williams of ABC spoke of “very ugly scenes” while attacking protesters.

An estimated 10,000 Trump supporters gathered for the main protest in support of the president’s hitherto unproven claims that the election was rigged.

Tensions began to flare when supporters came face to face with groups of anti-Trump protesters as night fell.

Video has emerged of a man who was apparently beaten and fell to the ground with a head injury. Other images show a woman beaten on the back of the head, a man pushed to the ground and MAGA flags burned. Police have made multiple arrests.

Pro-Trump protesters clashed in the streets with counter-protesters, videos posted on social media showing fights, projectiles and clubs.

Police arrested at least 20 people on a variety of charges, including assault and possession of weapons, authorities said.

A stabbing was reported, two policemen were injured and the police also recovered several firearms.

A week after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election, demonstrations in support of Trump also took place in other cities.

The fury at the prospect of a transfer of executive power showed no signs of abating, following the lead of the relentless claim of victory by the president in a race he actually lost.

“I just want to keep up my spirits and let him know that we support him,” said a loyalist, Anthony Whittaker of Winchester, Virginia, from outside the Supreme Court, where a few thousand gathered after a march down Pennsylvania Avenue from Freedom Plaza. near the White House.

He was one of many fervent supporters of the president who demonstrated in Washington on Saturday and packed his caravan in adulation as he detoured for a car ride out of town.

But hours later, after night fell in the nation’s capital, pro-Trump protesters clashed in the streets with counter-protesters, videos posted on social media showing fistfights, projectiles and clubs.

In Delray Beach, Florida, several hundred people marched, some holding signs that read “Count every vote” and “We cannot live under Marxist government.”

In Lansing, Michigan, protesters gathered on Capitol Hill to hear speakers question the results that showed Biden winning the state by more than 140,000 votes.

Phoenix police estimated 1,500 people gathered outside the Arizona Capitol to protest Biden’s narrow victory in the state. Protesters in Salem, Oregon, gathered at the Capitol.

Crowds in Washington were beginning to gather Saturday morning when cheers rang out as Trump’s limo approached Freedom Plaza. People lined up on both sides of the street, some standing just yards from Trump’s vehicle.

Others showed their enthusiasm by running alongside the caravan. They sang “USA, USA” And “four more years”, with many carrying American flags and posters to show their dissatisfaction with the vote count.

After making a small detour down the slow path around the site, the caravan headed to the President’s Virginia Golf Club.

Speakers included a newly elected Georgia Republican to the US House of Representatives. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has expressed racist views and support for QAnon’s conspiracy theories, urged people to march peacefully to the Supreme Court.

The protesters included members of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group known for fighting in the streets with ideological opponents at political rallies.

The march was largely peaceful during the day before turning tense at night, with multiple clashes as small groups of Trump supporters attempted to enter the area around Black Lives Matter Plaza, a block from the White House, where several hundred of anti-Trump protesters had gathered.

In a pattern that kept repeating itself, Trump supporters approaching the area were harassed, doused with water, and saw their MAGA caps and pro-Trump flags snatched up and burned, amid cheers.

As night fell, several police lines separated the two sides. Videos posted on social media showed some protesters and counter-protesters exchanging shoves, punches and slaps.

A man with a megaphone yelling “Get out of here!” He was pushed and pushed into the street by a man who was then surrounded by several people and pushed and beaten until he fell face-first into the street.

Bloody and stunned, they picked him up and escorted him to a police officer.

The “MAGA Million March” was heavily promoted on social media, raising concerns that it could lead to a conflict with anti-Trump protesters, who have been gathering near the White House in Black Lives Matter Plaza for weeks.

In preparation, the police closed wide swaths of the city center, where many shops and offices have been closed since Election Day.

Chris Rodriguez, director of the city’s National Security and Emergency Management Agency, said police had experience in keeping the peace.

The problems that the Trump campaign and its allies have pointed to are typical of every election: problems with signatures, secret envelopes, and postage marks on mailed ballots, as well as the possibility of a small number of ballots being incorrectly cast. or get lost.

With Biden leading Trump by wide margins in key states on the battlefield, none of those issues would have any impact on the election outcome.

The Trump campaign has also presented legal challenges complaining that its election observers were unable to examine the voting process.

Many of those challenges have been dismissed by the judges, a few hours after their presentation.

A former administration official, Sebastián Gorka, stirred up the crowd next to the Supreme Court saying: “We can win because he won.” But, he added, “it’s going to be difficult.”

A broad coalition of senior government and industry officials has declared that the Nov. 3 vote and the following recount proceeded without more than the usual minor setbacks: “the safest in American history,” they said, repudiating the Trump’s efforts to undermine integrity. competition.

Meanwhile, claims by White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany that a “million” attended the march have been dismissed.

Trump briefly climbed the rally with his caravan driving. But he didn’t stop, instead he went to play golf.

– with AP