Trump supporters and progressive activists are in the streets, with very different — and potentially confusing — goals.
As the country waited anxiously for the result of an election that had yet to be called on Wednesday, the tension extended to the streets of many American cities.
In Phoenix, Trump supporters converged on a county recorder’s office to demand that all votes be counted — while officials were inside, busily counting votes in a state where Democratic nominee Joe Biden was ahead.
In Detroit, meanwhile, a pro-Trump crowd demanded that authorities stop counting votes in the state, arguing that their poll observers had been unfairly treated.
It was a discordant response from supporters of the president on a day that also included protests by leftwing groups around the country calling for all votes to be counted, and by activists calling for racial justice, as the New York Times reported. Some of these protesters were arrested, with officers in riot gear “kettling” demonstrators in Manhattan. “Why are you in riot gear? We don’t see no riot here,” some protesters chanted in response.
Protests and unrest were widely expected in the wake of Tuesday’s election, given the president’s repeated refusal to say whether he’d accept the results — as well as his years-long history of stoking animosity against Democrats and the steady drumbeat of popular protest against his administration.
Indeed, while activist groups have led demonstrations around the country calling for those results to be tabulated fairly, the president has pursued a strategy of trying to stop counts in swing states where he looks ahead (and in some cases where he doesn’t), while issuing baseless allegations of fraud in places where he’s been declared the loser. And his supporters — some of them armed — are trying to follow his confusing lead.
Demonstrations took place across the country on Wednesday, both in swing states and in Democratic strongholds. And while both Trump supporters and leftwing activists were in the streets, they had very different reasons for being there. Here’s a rundown of some of the protest activity so far:
County officials have been working late into the night to tabulate the remaining votes, but some pro-Trump protesters made baseless claims that ballots were being discarded. Demonstrators chanted “stop the steal,” a slogan that has been gaining popularity in right-wing social media circles based on Trump’s false claims that the election is being stolen from him.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived in response to the growing crowd, and one journalist reported leaving the area after being threatened by a protester.
A limited number of certified poll challengers of both parties were also allowed inside the center, where some say Republican challengers intimidated ballot counters by taking their masks off, getting too close, and demanding that they stop counting. Republicans, meanwhile, argued that not enough challengers from their party were being allowed in the center, and the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit charging that Michigan had denied the campaign “meaningful access” to the count. But as in Arizona, the counting continued. “We will not allow ANYONE to distract us from the job at hand,” Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey said in a statement Wednesday.
Protesters were there to demonstrate against President Trump’s policies and his false statements claiming victory in the election. “Our focus is on not allowing Donald Trump to steal this election from the American people,” Nekima Levy Armstrong, a lawyer and demonstrator, told the Times. But some speakers also expressed little confidence in a President Biden and said protests would continue even if he is elected.
Police arrested multiple protesters, charging them with trespassing and unlawful assembly for being on the freeway. But Armstrong told the Times police were not allowing some protesters to leave the area.
The tension between Trump supporters and progressives existed long before Election Day, as Trump spent much of the last few months predicting that Democrats would try to steal the election while signaling that he might not concede. And the protests both in favor of and against counting all the votes will surely continue until the election is called. Depending on the president’s response to any call, they may well continue afterward as well, as Americans respond to the words and deeds of a president known for stoking chaos at every turn.
Author: Anna North
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