Online
\nWASHINGTON
\nFour people were stabbed and one shot as rallies backing President Donald Trump\u2019s baseless claims of election fraud led to clashes in major US cities on Saturday.
\nScuffles broke out in many places between rally-goers and counter-protesters who turned up to criticize the president, who lost the November 3 election to Democrat Joe Biden but is yet to concede.
\nWashington State Police said in a tweet late Saturday that a shooting had taken place after clashes near the capitol building in Olympia, and that a suspect had been detained.
\nIn the US capital, DC Fire and EMS Department communications chief Doug Buchanan told media that four people had been stabbed and were now hospitalized \u201cwith serious injuries.\u201d The New York Times reported that 23 had been arrested throughout the day.
\nThere was no indication of whether any of the victims had been involved in the protests, on either side of the divide.
\nThe day had begun with a festive atmosphere as thousands of red-hatted protesters filled Washington\u2019s streets to support the president, undeterred by the US Supreme Court\u2019s rejection on Friday of what may have been his last chance to overturn the results.
\nSimilar events took place in Olympia, Atlanta and St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as in smaller towns in Nebraska, Alabama and elsewhere.
\nDemonstrators at the DC rally — noticeably smaller than a similar protest last month — told media they were steadfast in their support for the embattled president.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re not gonna give up,\u201d said Luke Wilson, a sixty-something protester who had come all the way from the western state of Idaho.
\n\u201cI believe there is a big injustice being done to the American people,\u201d added Dell Quick, a regular at Trump\u2019s political rallies, as he brandished a flag defending gun rights.
\nProtesters offered no shortage of explanations for the poll results, even though they have been affirmed by state election officials — several of them Republican — and by judges in several key states.
\nEvery state has now certified the results, giving Biden 306 votes in the Electoral College to Trump\u2019s 232. Electors are to formally cast their votes Monday.
\nBut protesters insisted, as Trump has repeatedly, that there was widespread fraud in the election.
\nSome pointed to \u201cforeign interference,\u201d others to software that allegedly erased millions of votes for the president — but not those for other Republican candidates on the same ballots.
\nQuick told media that \u201cthere\u2019s no way possible\u201d that Biden won.
\nSusan Bowman, a 62-year-old from Hampton, Virginia, said \u201cthis is not a banana republic. We need to fix the election.\u201d
\nThose who addressed the crowd included Michael Flynn, Trump\u2019s former national security adviser who was recently pardoned by the president after admitting that he lied to the FBI over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
\nDozens of court cases alleging fraud or contesting the result have been decided — virtually all in Biden\u2019s favor, with some judges offering stinging criticism of the lack of evidence.
\nBut that was not enough for 47-year-old Darlene Denton, who wore a \u201cTrump 2024\u201d badge on her sweatshirt.
\n\u201cNobody wants to hear evidence, nobody wants to hear cases, everything just gets thrown out,\u201d said Denton, who had come from Tennessee to support a president she said had given \u201ca voice to the people.\u201d
\nTrump, in stark defiance of the clear result and of US tradition, has refused to concede to Biden.
\n\u201cWow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal,\u201d he tweeted early Saturday. \u201cDidn\u2019t know about this, but I\u2019ll be seeing them!\u201d
\nNot long afterward, his helicopter lifted off from the White House grounds and passed over the crowd — many singing the US national anthem — as Trump headed to New York to attend the annual Army-Navy football game.
\nAmong the protesters, members of the far-right militia group the Proud Boys were clearly visible — in their signature black-and-yellow outfits, some wearing bulletproof vests — and they often drew cheers from others in the crowd.
\nSome blocks away, supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement held their own, much smaller, rally, chanting \u201cNazis out!\u201d
\nPolice, some in riot gear, used their bodies and bicycles to keep the groups apart. There was also at least one clash between police and counter-protesters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Online WASHINGTON Four people were stabbed and one shot as rallies backing President Donald Trump\u2019s baseless claims of election fraud led to clashes in major US cities on Saturday. Scuffles broke out in many places between rally-goers and counter-protesters who turned up to criticize the president, who lost the November 3 election to Democrat Joe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n