WASHINGTON — Protesters clashed outside the White House and in other cities throughout election night and Wednesday morning, with emotions running high and dozens of arrests reported.
Dozens marched through the streets of Los Angeles, and crowds of 200 or more were held in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Portland, Oregon. Minnesota saw more than a dozen arrests. todaytimesnews
As tensions flared as the evening wore on, President Trump likely added fuel to the fire with a statement that he believed the election was rigged. He noted that while Biden has a slight lead in the race, several key states remain to be counted.
"It's a fraud on the American people. It's an embarrassment to our country... ...Frankly, we won the election," Trump said. It is not clear whether the protests escalated because of his comments.
The Washington, D.C., protests, despite a mostly peaceful atmosphere, had pockets of clashes as the night progressed. Pushing and shoving could be seen between the protesters and as local police tried to disperse the crowd, smoke from an unknown source filled the air.
CBS News reporter Christina Ruffini shared a video of what she called "some kind of smoke bomb" being used at the protest and said people were "just fighting." Clashes quickly broke out at the scene.
There were other reports of clashes on Tuesday. According to the New York Times, a man wearing a shirt supporting current President Donald Trump challenged a protester to a fight in a situation that was dispersed by police.
The outlet also reported that a man was hit with a bat after shouting "all lives matter" and a protester who chanted "black lives matter". Spectators broke up the fight, The New York Times reported.
0
Sign in to leave a comment.