4 People Were Stabbed and 1 Was Shot During Saturday's Pro-Trump Rallies
With anger in their hearts and dangerous falsehoods clouding their judgement, thousands of protestors took to the streets of Washington D.C. and small towns across the country on Saturday to protest a Supreme Court decision that significantly narrowed outgoing president Trump’s chances of invalidating the results of the 2020 presidential election. Fresh off a presidential pardon, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn showed up to placate an angry audience. “We decide the election,” he said. “We’re waging a battle across America.” Later on, he marched alongside InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The Washington Post described Saturday’s rallies as a “falsehood-filled spectacle.” The events were surreal—a physical manifestation of the disinformation that has plagued the modern media ecosystem. Then they got violent.
Later in the afternoon, members of the Proud Boys violently clashed with counterprotestors. Videos on social media show individuals dressed in the Proud Boys’ signature yellow and black Fred Perry shirts lunging at a counterprotestor before being wrestled to the ground by the police. Four people were stabbed near Harry’s Bar at 11th Street and F Street Northwest. The location was a meet-up spot for the Proud Boys.
A spokesperson for Mayor Bowser said that the four individuals were in critical condition. Eight police officers were also injured and taken to hospitals. It remains unclear with which groups the victims are associated. On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that at least one suspect, Phillip Johnson, 29, had been arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. According to a police report obtained by the AP, at least one of the stabbing victims identified Johnson as the assailant.
By the end of the night, 30 people had been arrested and charged with various misdemeanors including assault and rioting.
3,000 miles away, a similar scene unfolded in Olympia, Washington, with Trump supporters and counterprotestors once again clashing in the streets. People from both groups threw punches and objects at each other. At one point, a shot was fired, striking a counterpotestor. A video of the immediate aftermath of the event shows two men, one in a “Make America Great Again” hat running across a parking lot and getting into a car as counterprotestors scream, “Somebody get him! He just shot somebody!” in the background.
Authorities from the Washington State Patrol later identified the alleged shooter as a 25-year-old from Shoreline, Washington, but declined to reveal his name. He remains in custody. Little is known about the victim. According to the New York Times, he is still hospitalized but refuses to speak to authorities. At a press conference concerning the Covid-19 vaccine distribution, Governor Jay Inslee (D) called the violence “maddening.”
So this is what it has come to; all because the outgoing president refuses to concede an election he lost handily. On Sunday, Trump continued his assault on democracy by posting more baseless claims about election fraud. Despite knowing that his words actively incite violence, he rages on. It’s not surprising, but it is despicable.
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