21 arrested in clashes after DC Trump rally
WASHINGTON – After several thousand supporters of President Donald Trump protested the election results and marched to the Supreme Court on Saturday, nighttime clashes with counterprotesters led to fistfights, at least one stabbing and more than 20 arrests.
Several other cities on Saturday also saw gatherings of Trump supporters who are protesting Democrat Joe Biden being declared the winner of the presidential election. Cries of “Stop the Steal” and “Count Every Vote” rang out despite a lack of evidence of voter fraud or other problems that could reverse the result.
The demonstrations in the nation’s capital went from tense to violent during the night and early Sunday. Videos posted on social media showed fights, projectiles and clubs as Trump backers sparred with those demanding they take their MAGA hats and banners and leave. Police said they made 21 arrests on a variety of charges, including assault and weapons possession, and recovered eight firearms. Four officers were injured. No arrest has been made in the stabbing, and the victim was hospitalized with nonlife threatening injuries.
Trump had given an approving nod to the gathering Saturday morning by sending his motorcade through streets lined with supporters before heading to his Virginia golf club. People chanted “USA, USA” and “four more years,” and many carried American flags and signs to show their displeasure with the vote tally and insistence that, as Trump has asserted, fraud was the reason.
A broad coalition of top government and industry officials declared that the Nov. 3 voting and the following count unfolded smoothly with no more than the usual minor hiccups – “the most secure in American history,” they said, repudiating Trump’s claims.
In Delray Beach, Florida, several hundred people marched, some carrying signs reading “Count every vote” and “We cannot live under a Marxist government.” In Lansing, Michigan, protesters gathered at the Capitol to hear speakers cast doubt on results that showed Biden winning the state by more than 140,000 votes. Phoenix police estimated 1,500 people gathered.