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DETROIT: Dozens of angry supporters of President Donald Trump converged on the vote counting centers in Detroit and Phoenix as remarks went against him on Wednesday (Nov. 4) in the two key states, as thousands of anti-Trump protesters demanded a full tally of ballots in the still undecided elections took to the streets in US cities.
“Stop the count!” Trump supporters chanted in Detroit.
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“Stop the robbery,” they chanted in Phoenix.
NYPD officers address protesters in the West Village, Wednesday, Nov.4, 2020, in New York. (Photo: AP / Seth Wenig)
The protests came when the president insisted without proof that there were major problems with voting and the counting of votes, and when Republicans sued in several states for the elections.
Phoenix protesters filled much of the parking lot at the Maricopa County Election Center, where sheriff’s deputies were guarding both the exterior of the building and the interior of the count.
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Protesters hold up letters spelling Count Every Vote as they cross an overpass while marching in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, following Tuesday’s election. (Photo: AP / Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Representative Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican and staunch Trump supporter, joined the crowd and declared, “We are not going to let this election be stolen from us. Period.”
However, observers from the two main political parties remained inside the polling place while the ballots were processed and counted, and the procedure was streamed live online at all times.
An election official, right, speaks to a challenger, center, as he enters the central tally board, Wednesday, Nov.4, 2020, in Detroit. (Photo: AP / Carlos Osorio)
Meanwhile, from New York City to Seattle, thousands of protesters turned out to demand that all votes be counted.
In Portland, Oregon, which has been the scene of regular protests for months, Gov. Kate Brown called in the National Guard as protesters engaged in what authorities said was widespread violence in the city center, including breaking windows. .
Protesters, including one carrying a Black Lives Matter flag, march to urge all votes to be counted, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Philadelphia, following Tuesday’s elections. (Photo: AP / Matt Slocum)
Protesters in Portland were demonstrating on a variety of issues, including police brutality and the counting of votes.
“It is important to trust the process and system that has guaranteed free and fair elections in this country throughout the decades, even in times of great crisis,” Brown said in a statement.
“We are all in this together.”
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Richard March attended an anti-Trump rally in Portland despite a heart condition that makes him vulnerable to COVID-19.
“Questioning this election has dire consequences for our democracy,” he said.
Protesters, including one carrying a Black Lives Matter flag, march to urge all votes to be counted, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Philadelphia, following Tuesday’s elections. (Photo: AP / Matt Slocum)
“I think we are now a very polarized society, and I worry about what will come in the next days, weeks and months.
In New York, hundreds of people marched past bricked-up luxury stores on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, and in Chicago, protesters marched through downtown and down a street across the river from Trump Tower.
Similar protests, sometimes over elections, sometimes over racial inequality, took place in at least half a dozen cities, including Los Angeles, Houston, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and San Diego.
The confrontation in Detroit began shortly before the Associated Press declared that former Vice President Joe Biden had won Michigan.
Video filmed by local media showed angry people gathering outside the TCF Center and inside the lobby, with police officers lined up to prevent them from entering the vote counting area.
They chanted, “Stop the count!” and “Stop the voting!”
Earlier, the Republican campaign filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the count, demanding that Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state allow more inspectors in.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, insisted both parties and the public had access to the recount, “using a robust system of checks and balances to ensure that all ballots are counted fairly and accurately.”
Michigan has been nervous for months with fears of political violence.
Anti-government protesters openly brought weapons to the state Capitol during protests over coronavirus restrictions in the spring, and six men were arrested last month on charges of conspiring to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
On election night, scattered protests broke out after the vote ended, from Washington DC to Seattle, but there was no widespread unrest or significant violence.
The lengthy task of counting this year’s flood of votes by mail raised fears that the lack of clarity in the presidential race could provoke unrest.
