WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s supporters went to the nation’s capital to applaud his baseless allegations of electoral fraud before a vote in Congress to affirm Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
The president is due to address his supporters personally during a rally on Wednesday morning in Ellipse, south of the White House.
A few blocks from the White House, protesters – many without masks – gathered at Freedom Plaza on Tuesday to criticize the vote at the Electoral College. When temperatures dropped to 40 degrees and constant rain swept the streets, hundreds remained in the square until nightfall.
“I’m just here to support the president,” said David Wideman, a 45-year-old firefighter who traveled from Memphis, Tennessee.
Wideman acknowledged that he was “confused” by a series of losses by the president’s legal team in his attempt to overturn the election results and did not know what options Trump had left.
“I’m not sure what he can do at this point, but I want to hear what he has to say,” said Wideman.
Trump tweeted his support for the protesters: “Washington is being flooded with people who don’t want to see an electoral victory stolen by encouraged radical Left Democrats. Our country is fed up, they can’t take it anymore! We heard you (and we love you) in the Oval Office. MAKE AMERICA AGAIN! “
Speakers included former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, whom the president forgave after he was twice convicted of lying to the FBI in the investigation of special lawyer Robert Mueller in Russia.
“We are at a crucial moment in the history of the United States,” Flynn told the unmasked crowd. “This country is awake now.”
The protests coincide with the vote at Wednesday’s congress that is expected to certify the results of the Electoral College, which Trump continues to contest.
In a tweet on Tuesday night, Trump asked Democrats and Republican colleagues to look at “thousands of people arriving in DC”. In another tweet, he warned that antifa, the umbrella term for leftist militant groups, which Trump said he wants to declare a terrorist organization, should stay outside Washington.
The demonstrations have prompted local authorities and security forces to prepare for possible violent clashes in the streets. Many companies in central Washington have boarded up windows, fearing that the protest could turn into the unrest seen in May and June, when dozens of companies were vandalized.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser called on National Guard troops to help strengthen the city’s police force. She urged residents to stay away from downtown Washington and avoid confrontations with anyone who is “looking for a fight.” But, she warned, “we will not allow people to incite violence, intimidate our residents or cause destruction in our city”.
Election officials from both political parties, governors in key battlefield states and former Trump attorney general William Barr said there was no widespread election fraud. Almost all legal disputes by Trump and his allies have been dismissed by the judges, including two disputes dismissed by the Supreme Court.
A pro-Trump demonstration on December 12 ended in violence when hundreds of Trump supporters, wearing the black and yellow signature of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, sought clashes with a collective of local activists who were trying to stop them to enter the Black Lives Matter Plaza, an area close to the White House. At least two local Black churches had banners of Black Lives Mattered overturned and set on fire.
On Monday, police arrested Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 36, after he arrived in Washington before this week’s protests. Tarrio was accused of burning one of the Black Lives Matter tracks in December and was found with two high-capacity firearms magazines, police said. A judge signed an order on Tuesday banning Tarrio from entering the District of Columbia, with very limited exceptions related to his criminal case.
In addition to the National Guard, federal agents were on standby if they were needed quickly by the city this week.
The federal Bureau of Prisons said that about 100 “specially trained officers” were sent to the Justice Department headquarters to assist other security personnel, but would remain “in a reserve capacity, unless necessary”.
The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, said that, unlike the May and June disturbances in Washington, it did not plan to send Customs and Border Protection agents to the demonstration on Wednesday.
“At the moment, we were not asked to deploy. However, we have a modest rapid reaction force that will be on standby if assistance is requested, ”said agency agency commissioner Mark Morgan.
The organizers planned to meet Tuesday night and again all day on Wednesday at Ellipse. An afternoon march was also planned for the United States Capitol, where Congress will vote to confirm the election results. Several prominent Trump supporters were expected to attend, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Trump’s former ally Roger Stone, who received the president’s pardon.
Stone was convicted of lying to Congress during an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections and sentenced to three years in prison. Trump commuted the sentence while Stone appealed and later issued a full pardon.
A pro-Trump rally in November drew about 15,000 participants. The December 12 rally drew smaller numbers, but a larger contingent of Proud Boys.
During previous pro-Trump protests, police cordoned off the Black Lives Matter Plaza, but clashes spread through the surrounding streets. The Black Lives Matter Plaza was closed on Tuesday.
“We know that historically, in the last few demonstrations, BLM Plaza has been a focal point,” said Contee the day before. “We want to make sure that this is not a problem.”