Protests turned violent after Donald Trump supporters descend on Washington in election protest. Thousands of supporters of US President Donald Trump turned out in Washington DC to back his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the election.
Mr. Trump's supporters reportedly kicked off the demonstrations at about noon local time on Saturday near Freedom Plaza, just east of the White House, and later headed towards the Supreme Court.
As well as more mainstream Trump supporters, members of the far-right Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia group were among the marchers. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones (an American far-right radio show host, political extremist and conspiracy theorist) addressed the crowd, according to the BBC.
Proud Boys is a neo-fascist group known for street brawling with ideological opponents at political rallies.
Oath Keepers militia group is an American far-right militia organization, which describes itself as a non-partisan association of current and former military, police, and first responders, who pledge to fulfill the oath that all military and police take in order to “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” The Oath Keepers is described as extremist or radical).
Alex Jones is an American far-right radio show host, political extremist and conspiracy theorist.
Joe Biden won the 3 November election.
On Friday, he solidified his victory with a projected win in the state of Georgia – making him the first Democratic candidate to take the state since 1992.
He now has 306 votes in the electoral college – the system the US uses to choose its president – which far exceeds the 270 threshold to win.
However, Mr. Trump has so far refused to concede. He has launched a flurry of legal challenges in key states and made unsubstantiated allegations of widespread electoral fraud – but his efforts have so far been unsuccessful.
The United States is now in uncharted political territory, according to Euronews. Although there was a legal battle over the presidency in 2000 between Al Gore and George W. Bush – which was eventually decided by the Supreme Court in Bush's favor – that dispute was over fewer than 500 votes in a single state, Florida, Euronews says.
By comparison, Biden's lead in the states where Trump is demanding recounts or alleging fraud is tens of thousands of votes.
