Donald Trump supporters gather at a ‘Stop the Steal’ protest outside the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix
Phoenix / Washington:
Hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in downtown Phoenix on Saturday to challenge Joe Biden’s election as President of the United States, accusing the media of conspiring to steal the election and calling the results a “coup of State ”.
The Trump campaign has supported protests questioning the current vote count, filing a lawsuit in Arizona on Saturday over rejected ballots that the Arizona Secretary of State said was “taking in the straw.” .
Trump’s campaign alleged that the southwestern state’s most populous county wrongly rejected votes cast on election day by some voters in the US presidential race. The lawsuit, filed in Maricopa County State Superior Court, said polling officers told some voters to press a button after a machine detected a “flyover.”
Pro-Trump protesters have been rallying outside the Maricopa County Elections Department and the Arizona State Capitol for days, espousing unsubstantiated claims that Democratic agents interfered with the election to illegally deliver the ‘Arizona in Biden.
They chanted “Count the legal votes! We are watching you!” outside the building where election officials continue to count the votes.
Tensions escalated on Saturday, with protesters at one point threatening to demolish the fence surrounding the elections department and some members of the group’s media.
On Saturday afternoon, at the State Capitol building, speakers urged the crowd not to accept the election results, calling on paralegals and law students to come and defend the president.
“We all know President Trump won this election!” one shouted. Another told the crowd to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves what they were up to. Songs of “freedom or death!” sounds.
A number of far-right groups and militiamen such as the Proud Boys and Three Percenters were also in the crowd on Saturday, many of whom were armed with semi-automatic weapons.
At one point, the protesters clashed with a small group of young counter-protesters waving Mexican and American flags in a corner opposite the Elections Department. Jacki Valencia, 19, danced with a Biden-Harris sign as an unmasked man who had raised a “Blue Lives Matter” flag shouted “USA!” to her and to others.
“I think it’s ridiculous that they’ve gathered here,” she said. “They have no evidence of fraud.”
The Trump campaign trial argues that the potentially “defining” votes in the race between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, who was declared the winner on Saturday by major television channels, were not counted.
An Arizona official dismissed the lawsuit. “It’s just a blocking tactic to delay the official solicitation,” Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said in a statement through her spokesperson. “They grab hold of straws.”
The Maricopa County Elections Department declined to comment.
Biden leads Trump by 0.44%, or 18,600 votes, in Arizona.
The Trump lawsuit, whose plaintiffs include the Arizona State Republican Party and the Republican National Committee, cited statements by some poll watchers and two voters who said the issue led to rejected votes.
He is seeking an order requiring a manual review of allegedly overvalued ballots that were cast in person. He also asks a judge to prohibit the certification of the vote until the examination is completed.
On Saturday, a group of voters dropped a lawsuit that made unsubstantiated claims alleging that some votes cast for Trump were not counted in Maricopa County because voters used Sharpie pens. Last year, the county rolled out new tabbing equipment that made Sharpie pens the best option on election day because they have the fastest-drying ink.
The Hobbs spokeswoman added that they “are reviewing (the last trial) now, but this appears to be a repackaging of the” Sharpiegate “trial. Hopefully that puts the case to rest for good.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
