counter-protesters during political clashes on December 12, 2020,
in Olympia, Washington. Far-right and far-left groups squared off
near the Washington State Capitol following violent clashes over
the previous weekend. David Ryder/Getty Images/AFP
Four people were stabbed and one shot as rallies
backing President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election
fraud led to clashes in major US cities on Saturday.
Scuffles broke out in many places between rally-goers and
counter-protesters who turned up to criticize the president, who
lost the November 3 election to Democrat Joe Biden but is yet to
concede.
Washington State Police said in a tweet late Saturday that a
shooting had taken place after clashes near the capitol building in
Olympia, and that a suspect had been detained.
In the US capital, DC Fire and EMS Department communications
chief Doug Buchanan told AFP that four people had been stabbed and
were now hospitalized “with serious injuries.” The New York Times
reported that 23 had been arrested throughout the day.
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There was no indication of whether any of the victims had been
involved in the protests, on either side of the divide.
The day had begun with a festive atmosphere as thousands of
red-hatted protesters filled Washington’s streets to support the
president, undeterred by the US Supreme Court’s rejection on Friday
of what may have been his last chance to overturn the results.
Similar events took place in Olympia, Atlanta and St. Paul,
Minnesota, as well as in smaller towns in Nebraska, Alabama and
elsewhere.
Demonstrators at the DC rally — noticeably smaller than a
similar protest last month — told AFP they were steadfast in their
support for the embattled president.
“We’re not gonna give up,” said Luke Wilson, a sixty-something
protester who had come all the way from the western state of
Idaho.
“I believe there is a big injustice being done to the American
people,” added Dell Quick, a regular at Trump’s political rallies,
as he brandished a flag defending gun rights.
Protesters offered no shortage of explanations for the poll
results, even though they have been affirmed by state election
officials — several of them Republican — and by judges in several
key states.
Every state has now certified the results, giving Biden 306
votes in the Electoral College to Trump’s 232. Electors are to
formally cast their votes Monday.
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But protesters insisted, as Trump has repeatedly, that there was
widespread fraud in the election.
Some pointed to “foreign interference,” others to software that
allegedly erased millions of votes for the president — but not
those for other Republican candidates on the same ballots.
Quick told AFP that “there’s no way possible” that Biden
won.
Susan Bowman, a 62-year-old from Hampton, Virginia, said “this
is not a banana republic. We need to fix the election.”
Those who addressed the crowd included Michael Flynn, Trump’s
former national security adviser who was recently pardoned by the
president after admitting that he lied to the FBI over alleged
Russian interference in the 2016 election.
– ‘Stolen’ election – Dozens of court cases
alleging fraud or contesting the result have been decided —
virtually all in Biden’s favor, with some judges offering stinging
criticism of the lack of evidence.
But that was not enough for 47-year-old Darlene Denton, who wore
a “Trump 2024” badge on her sweatshirt.
“Nobody wants to hear evidence, nobody wants to hear cases,
everything just gets thrown out,” said Denton, who had come from
Tennessee to support a president she said had given “a voice to the
people.”
Trump, in stark defiance of the clear result and of US
tradition, has refused to concede to Biden.
“Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop
the Steal,” he tweeted early Saturday. “Didn’t know about this, but
I’ll be seeing them!”
Not long afterward, his helicopter lifted off from the White
House grounds and passed over the crowd — many singing the US
national anthem — as Trump headed to New York to attend the annual
Army-Navy football game.
Among the protesters, members of the far-right militia group the
Proud Boys were clearly visible — in their signature
black-and-yellow outfits, some wearing bulletproof vests — and they
often drew cheers from others in the crowd.
Some blocks away, supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement
held their own, much smaller, rally, chanting “Nazis out!”
Police, some in riot gear, used their bodies and bicycles to
keep the groups apart. There was also at least one clash between
police and counter-protesters.
AFP
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