Organizers were preparing for an expected crowd of 5,000 on Tuesday and more than 30,000 during the week, according to licenses issued by the National Park Service. Local government officials warned that the events could become tumultuous. Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington requested help from the Army National Guard on Monday, and local police warned that anyone intending to reach Washington with a firearm, as some social media sites have promised to do, would be arrested. .
Many of the hundreds of protesters who attended Tuesday’s “March to Save America” and “Stop Theft” rallies chose not to wear masks to prevent coronavirus transmission. Some of the speakers at the Freedom Plaza rally gave aggressive speeches, saying the groups were “at war”, targeting Republicans in Congress who refused to protest the election results.
Dan Couture, 51, who drove from Colorado to Tuesday’s rally with two of his brothers, Pat and Dave, said they arrived “to make sure that all legal votes are the counted votes”.
A few feet away, Richard Morris, 63, from Eaton Rapids, Michigan, began to accept the election result that has already been affirmed by each of the states and the nation’s top electoral officials.
“If he doesn’t win tomorrow, it’s all over,” said Morris, an architect, although he believes Trump will still find a way to victory.
The president also confirmed Tuesday on Twitter that he would lecture at the event at 11am wednesday, while continuing to point the finger at Democrats, Republicans who refused to support their unfounded claims and Antifa, a loose anti-fascist movement with some followers who often commit acts of violence.
“I hope that Democrats, and even more importantly, the weak and ineffective RINO section of the Republican Party, are looking at the thousands of people heading for DC. They will not run for an overwhelming electoral victory to be stolen ”. Mr Trump said, using the acronym for “Republican in Name Only”.