- Supporters of President Trump clashed with the police and at least six were arrested Tuesday night.
- Supporters gathered to protest the results of the presidential election ahead of Wednesday’s vote in Congress to certify those results.
- The protests came before a major rally planned on Wednesday, where Trump is expected to speak.
- Trump told his supporters that the vote in Congress is a chance to overturn the results, although it is not.
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Supporters of President Donald Trump clashed with the police, leading to the arrest of at least six of them, while protesting the results of the U.S. presidential election before a vote in Congress to certify the result.
Supporters met in Washington, DC, on Tuesday night, ahead of Wednesday’s meeting at which Congress is expected to vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November elections.
Images captured by Brendan Gutenschwager, an independent reporter, show protesters and police fighting. He said he showed Trump supporters trying to “speed up the line”.
You can see the video here:
—Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) January 6, 2021
According to Mediaite, protesters began to verbally attack the police, saying: ‘”You have lost both sides of support. We have regained your faith —— g, but we no longer have your back!”
Protesters met to contest the election results, supporting Trump’s baseless allegations that there was widespread electoral fraud and that he was the real winner.
They met at the city’s Freedom Plaza, where speakers called the coronavirus outbreak “fake” and repeated conspiracy theories about Democrats filling the polls.
Trump supporters gathered at BLM Plaza to protest in Washington DC, United States, on January 5, 2021.
Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images
This resulted in clashes, with the police showing up to pepper spray protesters.
Washington DC Metropolitan Police officials said six arrests were made until 9 pm, NBC News reported.
The charges included assaulting a police officer, simple assault, possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of an unregistered firearm.
Trump appeared to endorse the protesters on Tuesday, before the clashes began. He tweeted, “We heard you (and we love you) from the Oval Office. MAKE AMERICA AGAIN!”
—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2021
The protest took place before a major rally in the city planned on Wednesday, called “March for Trump / Save America”, in which Trump must speak
Many supporters came from other parts of the country to participate.
Congress is expected to vote to ratify Biden’s victory on Wednesday, although some Republicans plan to formally object.
The plan is expected to fail, and most lawmakers are expected to accept the results.
Trump’s plans to reverse election results through legal challenges have not been successful. He and Republican officials have not won any of the 42 lawsuits they have filed since election day.
Since then, Trump has turned his attention to Wednesday, spending the past few weeks encouraging his supporters by wrongly claiming that the January 6 Congressional vote is a chance to overturn the election.