[ad_1]
As Trump supporters began to rally in Washington, DC, for protests in support of President Trump’s efforts to stay in power despite his loss in the presidential election, opponents, including Black Lives Matter groups, have said they intended to avoid confrontations and avoid potential violence. which worries officials.
“While BLM DC will not be on the streets on January 6, 2021, leaders and activists are now mounting a public education campaign to demand justice,” the Black Lives Matter DC group said in a statement.
Nee Nee Taylor, an organizer for BLM DC, told Yahoo News his group is calling on DC hotels not to sell rooms to Trump supporters, but that “we have to be here after January 6” to keep working to achieve their goals.
“We hope that by asking people to stay away from these areas, we can keep people as safe as possible,” Taylor said. She added that BLM DC “did not control any organization” that wished to march or protest, and that it supported its right to do so.
Taylor and another activist, Beth Yirga of the Palm Collective, said they had worried in recent days about threats of violence from Trump supporters on right-wing social media sites.
“We do not encourage or discourage individuals from going out,” Yirga told Yahoo News. She said that for those taking to the streets, her organization had set up “remote resources” to provide them with assistance, such as places to go, communication resources and “hotspot” extractions.
Other racial justice groups in Washington have indicated a similar position. A representative for Shut Down DC said in a direct message on Instagram that “we encourage people to protect themselves … whatever it means to them.”
“We are not encouraging people to fight the Trumpists. SDDC as a group will do distributed artistic actions and does not intend to engage them, ”said the spokesperson.
Another group, DC Teens Action, was hosting self-defense training on Tuesday night, but a representative from that group also told Yahoo News via Instagram that “as far as I know, no one from DCTA will be on the streets.”
“We shared information from different [organizations] so people know what their options are, but we are not pushing people anyway, ”said the DCTA representative.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser asked “Washingtonians and those who live in the area must stay out of downtown Tuesday and Wednesday and not engage in dialogue with the protesters who come to our city to confront each other, and we will do what we must to ensure that everyone there will attend remain peaceful. “
Congress will certify the results of the Electoral College on Wednesday, which is the final step in the transition of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden ahead of the January 20 inauguration. On Tuesday, Trump supporters arrived in Washington, drawn by the president’s call for a massive rally to support his efforts to overthrow the presidential election. Trump tweeted his intention to speak during a “Save America Rally” at the Ellipse at 11 am Wednesday.
The president and his supporters have provided no evidence of the accusations that the election was stolen from him, and every claim brought before the court has been dismissed by state and federal judges, including some appointed by Trump himself.
The president hinted a Tuesday evening tweet that members of Congress should be intimidated by the presence of his supporters in the city. “I hope the Democrats, and more importantly, the weak and ineffective RINO section of the Republican Party, are watching the thousands of people flocking to DC. They will not be running for a landslide election victory to be stolen, ”Trump said, specifically marking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., And his top two Senate MPs.
A former assistant to Vice President Mike Pence said she worried about violence because “the president himself is encouraging it.”
Fantasies of overturning the election results were supported by Republican members of Congress. A majority of Republican members of the House of Representatives and more than a dozen senators said they would oppose voters lists certified by one or more states on Wednesday. The Constitution gives Congress no power to change the outcome of elections if there is a clear winner from the Electoral College. The Constitution also does not give Vice President Mike Pence the power to overturn the result, although Trump has urged him to do so.
The biggest concern about the violence comes from a group called the Proud Boys, a self-described chauvinistic male group with white nationalist ties. Twice since the November 3 election, thousands of Proud Boy members have gathered in Washington, wandering the streets, appearing to seek out violent clashes with opponents.
A DC lawyer told Yahoo News he and other lawyers have been bombarded with calls from out-of-state Trump supporters asking for advice on whether the law allows them to bring weapons to fire in the city. This was a much higher volume of calls than that which had occurred before the two preceding events of November 14 and December 12.
The short answer is that in most cases they are not. Bowser published information Monday, reminding visitors that a permit to carry a concealed firearm in another state is not recognized in the district and that carrying a concealed weapon without a permit issued by the city is a criminal offense. She also noted that it is illegal to carry a firearm within 1,000 feet of a First Amendment rally.
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was arrested in Washington on Monday and charged with destruction of property based on evidence he participated in the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner that had been torn from a black church history during the skirmishes in the streets of the last month. Tarrio was also charged with two counts of illegal possession of high capacity magazines.
Tarrio, who is also reportedly chief of staff for grassroots group Latinos for Trump, posted on Speak last week that “the Proud Boys will perform in record numbers on January 6 but, this time, with a twist. Instead of their traditional uniform of black and yellow polo shirts, he suggested that members of the far-right group dress all in black, a look typically associated with antifa members.
“We will be incognito and we will disperse around downtown DC in smaller teams,” Tarrio wrote.
Now it looks like Tarrio won’t be able to participate at all. A judge on Tuesday barred Tarrio from entering Washington, except for meetings with his lawyer or to appear in court.
Members of right-wing militias such as the Oath Keepers, who are often seen armed and dressed in military uniform during large demonstrations where they pose as “security volunteers”, as well as followers of the military. the pro-Trump conspiratorial movement QAnon.
Yahoo News first reported in August 2019 that the FBI had identified QAnon believers as “domestic extremists motivated by conspiracy theory”, who pose a “potential national terrorist threat.” Since then, the cult-like online movement, which was originally based on a myth that Donald Trump was secretly fighting a “deep state” cabal of satanic pedophiles, has grown into a versatile vehicle for a variety. paranoid conspiracy theories – including those related to the 2020 election.
In fact, QAnon’s changing social media network helped amplify Trump’s efforts to delegitimize the 2020 election results both before November 3 and in the weeks that followed.
According to the Washington Post, accounts linked to QAnon have also contributed to a slew of recent posts circulating on far-right forums encouraging Trump supporters to bring weapons to protests in Washington on Wednesday, allegedly in violation of the laws. local.
Newly elected members of the Republican House, Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, and Lauren Boebert, of Colorado, both of whom adopted QAnon, are among Trump’s top allies and far-right figures who are expected to take the lead. speaking at official events scheduled for Wednesday’s elections. counting of votes.
The National Park Service has reportedly approved at least three different permit applications from groups planning protests, the first of which is scheduled for Tuesday night, with many more promoting the protests online and even coordination of caravans Trump supporters traveling to Washington from across the country.
Other speakers expected to take one of the steps include conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Roger Stone, the longtime Republican strategist who recently received a full pardon from Trump for several felony convictions for attempting to obstruct congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The biggest star, of course, is President Trump himself. For weeks, Trump has urged supporters across the country to rally in DC this week so that he promised will be a “wild” day of demonstrations. As protests began to unfold in Washington on Tuesday night, he tweeted in support of those who answered the call.
“Washington is inundated with people who don’t want to see an election victory stolen by emboldened leftist radical Democrats,” Trump wrote. “Our country has had enough, they won’t take it anymore! We hear you (and love you) from the Oval Office. MAKE AMERICA EVEN BIGGER! “
_____
Learn more about Yahoo News:
[ad_2]
Source link