Election anxiety turns to lawsuits, protests and physical altercations
By Terry Miller
On Saturday, Nov. 7, the world learned that former-Vice President Joe Biden became president-elect. Facing apparent defeat after one term, President Donald Trump continues to issue a volley of complaints, threats, and lawsuits that election experts say carry little legal merit and seem calculated to sow mistrust and chaos.
According to experts and election officials in various states, there was no evidence of widespread irregularities. “Election officials in dozens of states representing both political parties said that there was no evidence that fraud or other irregularities played a role in the outcome of the presidential race,” according to an investigation from The New York Times.
Digging in for a long fight, the president falsely claimed last Thursday: “If you count the legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us. If you count the votes that came in late, we’re looking at them very strongly, a lot of votes came in late.”
Addressing reporters in the White House briefing room, the president went on to complain about “historic election interference from big media, big money and big tech … The pollsters got it knowingly wrong.”
The process to count the votes was and still is daunting and demanding for those entrusted to the task.
While Biden calls for calm and patience, saying that “No one’s going to take our democracy away from us,” the Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a press conference Wednesday that the state will conduct a statewide recount of ballots.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that a crowd of Trump supporters, “some armed with rifles and handguns, gathered outside an election center in Arizona last Wednesday night after unsubstantiated rumors that votes for the Republican president were deliberately not being counted.” The predominantly unmasked protesters chanted “Stop the steal” as they rushed the Maricopa County Elections office in Phoenix.
In Detroit, scores of supporters of the president chanted “Stop the Count” last Wednesday.
In New York City, thousands marched on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, calling for every vote to be counted. “The march was violent, and police made at least 20 arrests” according to Headline USA.
On Saturday, Marshall, Ark. Police Chief Lang Holland resigned after encouraging violence against “traitors” who attempted to prevent the reelection of President Trump. “Kevin Elliott, the city’s mayor, said Holland apologized for the trouble caused by a series of profanity-laden social media posts, which also called for the death of ‘all Marxist Democrats.’” according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
In Pasadena Sunday, a fight broke out in Old Pasadena, which was partially boarded up, as a pro-Trump caravan of cars proceed to a protest to demand a recount. The fight was caught on a cellphone video. It is not immediately clear who started the fight nor is there any indication of any serious injuries. The 90-second video, first reported on by Pasadena Now, shows a heated exchange and physical punches.
We contacted the Pasadena Police Department for comment. According to Ltn.William Grisafe, “Officers did respond to the incident depicted in the video but when they arrived on scene, all parties were gone. Officers attempted to conduct follow up, however as of this point, we have not received any complaints from any of the parties involved in the altercation.”
