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SALEM, Oregon: Supporters of President Donald Trump staged demonstrations in the United States on Wednesday (January 6), disrupting some official functions but remaining decidedly more moderate than the protesters in Washington who stormed the US Capitol. To demand that Trump’s electoral defeat be annulled. .
From Atlanta to Salem, Oregon and points in between, Trump supporters echoed the outgoing president’s false claims that his victory was stolen by massive election fraud, local media and officials reported.
In the Oregon capital, where crowds protesting for Trump and against state COVID-19 restrictions burned an effigy of Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, police declared a gathering illegal and ordered protesters to disperse. Oregon State Police said at least one person was arrested in Salem on suspicion of harassment and disorderly conduct.
READ: ‘It’s an insurrection’ says Biden, calling for ‘simple decency’ after the US Capitol protests.
There were no immediate reports of serious violence, although a news photographer was doused with mace or pepper spray at a rally in Salt Lake City, Utah’s capital, police said.
Supporters of President Trump burn an effigy of Oregon Governor Kate Brown on January 6, 2021 in Salem, Oregon. (Photo: AFP / Getty Images / Nathan Howard)
The protesters entered the Kansas state house in Topeka and gathered inside the first floor of the Capitol rotunda, although they kept their order, KSNT television reported. State police later said the protesters had obtained advance permission.
In Denver, the Colorado capital, Mayor Michael Hancock ordered city agencies to close early “as a precaution” after some 700 protesters gathered at the state house.
In Georgia, a major courthouse complex and two other government buildings in Atlanta were ordered closed due to protests near the state palace. Among those affected were aides to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the Republican election official pressured by Trump in a phone call over the weekend to “find” enough additional votes for Trump to win the state.
Georgia is among the states won by Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office in two weeks.
Trump supporters gather in front of the State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia on January 6, 2021 (Photo: AFP / Virginie Kippelen).
Staff left their offices early as a precaution, but Raffensperger was not there, spokesman Walter Jones said.
Some state workers also went home early in Salt Lake City, in part because of about 400 people marching outside, said Lt. Nick Street of the Utah Highway Patrol. The event was mostly peaceful, except for the assault on the news photographer, Street said.
LEE: Woman shot dead in riots in the US Capitol.
Protesters put up posters on the Capitol building that read “Stop the robbery!” and “Trump won!” reported the Salt Lake Tribune.
Several hundred Trump supporters also staged a “Stop the Steal” rally at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, cheering and jeering while displaying a guillotine.
