Trump supporters gathered outside the Philadelphia Election Center in Pennsylvania, USA, demanding that the state’s previous election results be overturned.
In Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, the protests called “Stop Election Stealing” also continue. Trump supporters gathered outside the election center to demonstrate, claiming voter fraud in the swing state. Reuters commented on these protests that Trump is trying to pressure the states to recount the votes through the rally.
In fact, from the beginning of the U.S. election to today, the states have been flooded with election protests, which have gradually turned into violent incidents. American society is in great anxiety.
Not only businesses and office buildings have nailed wooden floors to protect them, the police have also sounded the alarm in all directions, ready to quell various riots and conflicts after the election; even some people have already started hoarding daily necessities, large supermarket chains In some of Costco’s stores, toilet paper has been robbed out of stock.
Demonstrations and conflicts in many places, the US police sounded the alarm
The protests in Pennsylvania have been going on for several days. In addition to Philadelphia, Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, also recently gathered many Trump supporters to protest the election results in arms. Protesters held banners of “Stop Stealing the Election”, claiming that the Democrats had manipulated the election by improper means.
The armed protests in Harrisburg originated from a video that went viral on social networks recently. The video shows the Virginia voter burning votes cast for Trump. Trump supporters use this as evidence that the Democrats “stole the election.” However, in fact, the officials in charge of elections in Virginia had already refuted the rumors, saying that the votes in the video were just samples. But this did not convince Trump supporters, they still took to the streets to protest, chanting that the election was unfair.
It may be said that the protests in Pennsylvania are actually a microcosm of protests and demonstrations across the United States. As early as when the results of the general election were pending, a series of protests or conflicts had taken place across the United States. Trump supporters and Biden supporters took to the streets to express their wishes and demands.
On the day of the general election on November 3, protests against Trump broke out in Portland, Oregon. The protesters chanted “We hope Biden will win” and demanded that every vote be counted. In response to the demonstrations, the governor even activated the state’s National Guard. Crowds of demonstrations formed by Biden supporters also appeared in Chicago and New York. On November 4, hundreds of Biden supporters gathered in downtown Chicago, chanting “Every vote counts.” On the same day, the protests in the West Village of Manhattan, New York turned into violent police and civilian clashes. There were 58 protesters. Arrested by the police.
However, Trump supporters on the other side are even more powerful. On November 5, Trump supporters gathered outside the city hall in Phoenix, Arizona to stage an armed protest. They waved the banner of supporting Trump and called on the ballots sent after 3 days to be invalid. A rally with the same appeal also appeared in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
On November 6, a large number of Trump supporters gathered outside the Philadelphia Convention Center, claiming that the Democratic Party was “stealing the election.” Due to the special status of Pennsylvania in the election, today, it has become the main area for Trump supporters to carry out armed protests.
In addition to demonstrations aimed at expressing political aspirations, interference with vote counting has also occurred in many parts of the United States. In Maricopa County, Arizona, a group of armed Trump supporters claimed fraud in the counting of votes. On the 4th, they tried to break into a local counting station on the grounds of monitoring the counting of votes. In the past few days, Maricopa County has also become a frequent place of protests and conflicts.
The election result is lagging behind, triggering conspiracy theories
In response to successive unrests in various places, American extremism research experts have launched investigations into the causes. One of the mainstream views is that due to the epidemic and mailed ballots, the results of this year’s election were only released on the 4th day after the election day. The time difference between the two gave conspiracy theories a chance to spread. The National Public Radio (NPR) of the United States pointed out that among the participants in this disturbance are not only extremists, but also a large number of ordinary people who are used by conspiracy theorists with ulterior motives.
Melissa Ryan, CEO of Card Strategies, a well-known American extremism research organization, said, “The turmoil is not because people go to the streets to protest spontaneously because of anger. The protesters issued instructions and information.” The implication is that a series of turmoil triggered by the general election has “behind the scenes” provoking and controlling.
Some analysts also pointed out that some inflammatory remarks even came from the White House and Trump himself. Trump has repeatedly stated that mailing votes was a conspiracy, and the Democratic Party destroyed the votes cast for Trump and “stole” the victory. However, the media generally pointed out that the Trump campaign has never produced actual evidence.
Presidential remarks instigated social division
Although Biden has announced his victory, American society has not returned to calm with the announcement of the election results. Just a few minutes after the media announced Biden’s victory, Trump tweeted, “Biden should not declare his victory. I can also say that the legal proceedings have just begun.”
At present, the Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and other states, claiming that voter fraud and other violations existed in the 2020 election. Trump said on Twitter that “lawsuits will change the election results.”
Trump has also made more radical remarks before. At the first election debate held on September 29, local time, Trump took the opportunity to shout to his supporters: “Proud boy, stand by!” This remark was generally interpreted by the US media and public opinion as Trump’s Try to gather the strength of its extreme right supporters to pave the way for demonstrations that may be useful in the future.
Combined with Trump’s earlier claim of “not committing to the peaceful transfer of power,” the degree of turbulence in American society is really worrying.
American society generally believes that the 2020 presidential election has aggravated the division of American society. After the election, violent incidents of varying scales may continue for some time. Even though Biden has been widely regarded as a victory, right-wing organizations will not give up re-election of Trump. For a certain period of time, American society will remain in turmoil and division.
