Among the angry crowd were armed people who claimed that Republican ballots were being rejected.
Donald Trump's supporters on Wednesday night surrounded the Maricopa County Elections Department in Arizona to protest alleged electoral fraud and demand a recount of the votes. Among them were people carrying firearms and yelling "stop the steal!"
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"Wearing Trump gear, the Phoenix protesters filled much of the parking lot at the Maricopa County election center, and members of the crowd chanted, 'Fox News sucks!' in anger over the network projecting Joe Biden the winner in Arizona," outlet Patch reported.
“They waved flags, shouted obscenities… and repeated the false claim that Republican ballots filled out with Sharpie pens were being rejected,” the Daily News reported, commenting their protest “was a surreal spectacle considering President Trump was still trailing in Arizona late Wednesday and needed the vote counting to continue to possibly close the gap with his Democratic challenger.”
Despite the threats, local election officials said the demonstration performed by Trump supporters would not hamper the vote count.
BREAKING: There are now *armed* Trump protestors outside the election center in #Maricopa...
— Shane Claiborne (@ShaneClaiborne) November 5, 2020
(also... imagine how different the police response would be if they were black) https://t.co/vSXOnkrCGE
On Wednesday, even though the vote count has not finished at the national level, the Republican candidate proclaimed his victory in the 2020 elections, claimed to be the victim of fraud, and tried to stop the vote count by filing lawsuits in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
Despite these threats, local election officials stressed that Trump's supporters would not hamper their job. Besides strtessing the electoral process has not been tampered with, they stated that the counting of all votes, whether sent by mail or cast in person, will continue.
"Accurate voting takes time ... This is evidence of democracy, not fraud," said the GOP chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, as reported by Patch.