PHOENIX (US) – On Thursday night, supporters of President Donald Trump intensified their demonstrations against an election which they believe was rigged or was stolen and they clashed with counter-protesters as ballot counting continued in battleground states.
Votes are still being counted in Arizona, one of five battleground states, and Trump supporters were seen gathering outside the Maricopa County Elections Department in Phoenix.
Some of them chased a man who held up a sign showing the president as a Nazi pig behind a stage where right-wing radio host Alex Jones was giving a speech.
Police had to intervene to break up the altercation after the man and his group of counter-protesters were surrounded by Trump backers.
“They are trying to steal the election but America knows what happened and it’s fighting back,” Jones told the crowd of 300 people. “1776 is the answer to 1984,” he said, in an apparent reference to the Declaration of Independence and the dystopian George Orwell novel.
Protests are isolated and are largely peaceful since Election Day.
Facebook Inc announced that it had removed a rapidly growing group on the platform with violent rhetoric calling for “boots on the ground” to protect the nation’s integrity.
Meanwhile, supporters of Joe Biden have adopted the slogan “count every vote,” saying an accurate counting of all ballots in the remaining battleground states would show that he had won the 270 electoral votes needed to reach the White House.
Supporters of both Trump and Biden held rallies in Philadelphia on Thursday as election officials counted the mail-in ballots, which decide the crucial 20 Electoral College votes.
Supporters of the president waved flags and carried signs reading “Vote stops on Election Day” and “Sorry, polls are closed” while supporters of his rival danced to music behind a barricade across the street.
“We can’t allow the ballot counters to be intimidated,” said retired social worker Bob Posuney, a Biden supporter.
Philadelphia police said late on Thursday that they were probing a plot to attack the city’s Pennsylvania Convention Center, where votes were being counted. At least one person was arrested and a weapon was seized.
As many as 100 Trump supporters gathered on the steps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building on Thursday afternoon as part of a “Stop the Steal” agitation organised by Virginia conservative activist Scott Presler.
“This is not a rally supporting a particular candidate,” Presler said. “This is a rally fighting for two things: truth and justice.” In an interview, he said he planned to raise funds for an audit of the state’s vote count.
On Thursday, a state appellate court allowed more Republican observers to enter the building in Philadelphia where poll workers were counting ballots.
As many as 50 Trump supporters in Milwaukee gathered in front of a building where counting was going on and played country music and waved flags. They carried signs that read “Recount” and “Rigged”.
After an hour, they were met by a dozen counter-protesters, shouting “Black lives matter” and “say their names”. Some threw eggs at Trump supporters from a passing car.
“My country’s future is what brings me out here tonight,” said Mitchell Landgraf, a 21-year-old construction worker. “I’m afraid if it goes one way that this country will go downhill fast.”
There were at least 400 protesters outside the Clark County Election Department in Las Vegas. Loud patriotic anthems could be heard as scores of Republican supporters waved American and Trump flags.