Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump descended upon Washington, D.C., Wednesday for a “Stop the Steal” rally to protest certifying the 2020 presidential election as Congress prepared to tally the Electoral College votes and officially declare Joe Biden as president-elect.
Video of the event showed thousands of Trump supporters gathered on Capitol Hill, waving American and Trump flags as “stop the steal” chants echoed throughout the crowd.
“Tens of thousands of Trump supporters are out in DC this morning, packing The Ellipse and now filing up much of the space near the Washington Monument as an overflow area to watch the rally,” one Twitter user said, sharing a video of the immense gathering.
Another video showed a parade of supporters carrying flags, “stop the steal” banners, pro-Trump signs, and more. One banner read, “Chinese Americans fight for Trump.”
One video showed the long lines and packed crowds gathered to watch Trump’s anticipated speech.
“HUGE crowd gathered to watch President Trump’s speech today at #stopthesteal rally. Hard to tell where the line even starts,” the user tweeted.
A photo posted by One American News showed just how densely packed the crowds are.
Throughout downtown D.C., signs from the Metropolitan Police Department were posted announcing that firearms were temporarily banned from the area during the rally.
According to the sign, the ban went into effect Monday, January 4 and will remain until Thursday, January 7.
“First Amendment Activity Area,” one of the signs stated. “All firearms prohibited within 1000 feet of this sign.”
Videos from Tuesday night showed crowds already making a significant presence.
Tensions were brewing among demonstrators and some clashed with police on Tuesday night.
Over 100 members of the House of Representatives have said they will reject certifying Joe Biden as president-elect. Eleven senators and senators-elect joined the growing number of Representatives, jointly vowing to reject the results of the Electoral College when the joint session of Congress convenes on Wednesday to tally the votes.
The lawmakers issued a joint statement over the weekend announcing their plan to reject the results, citing unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations, and lax enforcement of election law and other irregularities that have caused a “deep distrust of our democratic processes” that will not “magically disappear” and “should concern us all.”
“Congress should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states. Once completed, individual states would evaluate the Commission’s findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed,” the statement read.
