[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (AP) – Several thousand supporters of President Donald Trump in Washington protested the election results and then praised the Trump caravan before nightly clashes with counter-protesters sparked fistfights, at least one stabbing and at least 20 arrests .
Several other cities on Saturday also saw gatherings of Trump supporters unwilling to accept as legitimate the Electoral College of Democrat Joe Biden and the victory of the popular vote. The screams of “Stop the Steal” and “Count Every Vote” continued despite the lack of evidence of voter fraud or other issues that could reverse the outcome.
After night fell, the relatively peaceful demonstrations in Washington turned from tense to violent. Videos posted on social media showed fistfights, projectiles and clubs as Trump supporters clashed with those demanding that they remove their MAGA caps and banners and leave. The tensions lasted until Sunday morning. A variety of charges, including assault and possession of weapons, were brought against those arrested, authorities said. Two policemen were injured and the police recovered several firearms.
Trump himself had nodded his approval to the meeting Saturday morning by sending his caravan through streets packed with fans before heading to his Virginia golf club. People chanted “USA, USA.” And “four more years,” with many carrying American flags and posters to show their discontent with the vote count and insisting that, as Trump has baselessly asserted, fraud was the reason.
“I just want to keep up my spirits and let him know we support him,” said a loyalist, Anthony Whittaker of Winchester, Virginia. He was outside the Supreme Court, where a few thousand gathered after a march down Pennsylvania Avenue from Freedom Plaza near the White House.
A broad coalition of senior government and industry officials has stated that the November 3 vote and the following recount proceeded without any more problems than the usual minor setbacks: “the safest in American history,” they said, repudiating Trump’s efforts to undermine the integrity of the contest.
In Delray Beach, Florida, several hundred people marched, some holding signs that read “Every Vote Counts” and “We Can’t 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.
Speakers in Washington included a newly elected Republican from Georgia 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.
Multiple clashes appeared later in the day 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 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 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 boarded up 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.
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.”
