STOP THE COUNT... ... COUNT THE VOTE
PRO-TRUMP PROTESTERS IN MICHIGAN PRO-TRUMP PROTESTERS IN ARIZONA
TRUMP supporters in Michigan have demanded that election officials stop tallying votes – while those in Arizona have called for the count to continue.
Activists backing the president in Detroit, the largest city in Michigan where Democrat Joe Biden is said to have beaten Donald Trump on postal votes, gathered outside an election office and chanted: ‘Stop the count’, ‘Stop the votes’ and ‘Stop the steal’.
Meanwhile in Phoenix, Arizona, where Mr Biden had a slim lead, about 00 Trump supporters, some armed with rifles and handguns, chanted: ‘Count that vote.’
The Phoenix clashes prompted Republican and Democrat officials to issue a joint statement urging calm. Clint Hickman, the Republican chairman of Maricopa County’s board of supervisors, and Democratic supervisor Steve Gallardo said: ‘An accurate vote takes time. This is evidence of democracy, not fraud.’
But there were similar scenes in neighbouring Nevada, with about 75 pro-Trump demonstrators gathering at counts waving flags and chanting: ‘Stop the steal.’
In Detroit, officials blocked about 30 Republican supporters from entering a building where votes were being counted amid unfounded claims of fraud. Supporters from both parties have complained about being blocked from watching counts. Republican Nick Sinishtaj said: ‘They’re escorting us out like bouncers for a nightclub.’ But authorities said Republicans and Democrats exceeded the maximum of 134 observers.
Meanwhile, 11 people were arrested and weapons seized at an anti-Trump demonstration in Portland, Oregon, amid reports of rioting. Other arrests were made in Denver and Minneapolis.
Twenty people were arrested in New York during a protest by people demanding that votes continue to be counted.