As Trump Escalates Drive to Steal the Election…

“Stop the Vote” Fascist MAGA Mobs Try to Shut Down Ballot-Counting in Key States

November 5, 2020 | revcom.us

 

Trump has been stealing the election for months (go here, here, here and  here for examples). Now that voting is over with on Election Day, he wants to stop counting ballots in key undecided states like Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada, especially from urban areas with disproportionate concentrations of Black and Latino people.

On Wednesday, fascists began to besiege vote-counting centers in pro-Biden areas of key states. 

In Detroit, angry Trump supporters stormed the TCF Center where hundreds of thousands of ballots were being counted under the watch of election officials and designated observers from both campaigns. Shouting “Stop the Count” and banging on the windows of the building, a large number got inside and created so much turmoil that many of the designated observers were forced out of the building. The crowd remained for hours, though counting reportedly was never interrupted.

In Phoenix, around 200 Trump supporters menaced the Maricopa County Elections Department. Members of the far-right “AZ Patriots”—one of them wearing a military vest—walked right into the office and accused officials of “fraud.” After being kicked out, they joined the MAGA-hat-wearing, Trump-and-American-flag-waving crowd, a number of whom had weapons, including AR-15s.

Still another crowd formed in Las Vegas, including a man screaming, “We want our freedom for the world” while wearing a sign that read “BBQ, Beer, Freedom.” Another mob member wearing an American-flag mask shouted, “Stop the Steal” and “It’s time for the purge.” 

All this on the same day that Bill Barr’s Department of “Justice” sent an email to U.S. attorneys around the U.S. claiming they had the authority to dispatch armed federal agents to “investigate” ballot counting in the states.

At the same time, there have been initial protests against these moves. Refuse Fascism reported that yesterday, “Eric Trump and Rudy Giuliani went to Philadelphia and attempted to hold a press conference to attack vote counting. @RefuseFascismPH and others protested and, according to one reporter, ‘Promised press conference by #Trumpcampaign at 12th & Market morphs into #CountEveryVote rally.’”

All of these moves from the fascists should be taken extremely seriously. It is reminiscent of the way Trump’s “LIBERATE” and “Open Up America” tweets brought armed fascists to the steps of many state capitols last spring, terrorizing legislators. They are openly using violence and intimidation to steal an election for Trump. And this is a powerful illustration of why voting is not enough—we need to be IN THE STREETS in mass, sustained, nonviolent protest to drive this fascist regime out.

Fascist zombies are now storming the elections office in Maricopa County, AZ, as final votes are being counted.

They're mobilizing on the streets and in the courts to steal the election.

We have to mobilize to stop this coup and get #TrumpPenceOutNow!pic.twitter.com/vlwGpjX4jx

— The Revcoms (@therevcoms) November 5, 2020