The latest news about demonstrating Sundays in state houses across the country.
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After a small, peaceful protest at the Ohio Statehouse on Sunday, Governor Mike DeWine says security levels will remain high in Columbus ahead of Wednesday’s presidential inauguration.
DeWine praised protesters for exercising their right to free speech in a way that “respected our constitution and our 150-year-old state building.”
But he said concerns remain over the coming days about possible violence.
Quiet protests were common in the US on Sunday as law enforcement officials braced for major rallies and possible violence from supporters of President Donald Trump who believe his false claims that he won the presidential election.
Many rallies had more law enforcement than protesters. In states from Maine to Mississippi to Nevada, there were no far-right protesters at all. Protesters in Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Utah were armed but peaceful.
Washington State Patrol spokesman Chris Loftis said there may have been a cooling across the country after a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 to stop Electoral College certification, with a Capitol Police officer and four others were killed.
He said law enforcement will not wait.
“All we have in abundance today is uncertainty,” he said. “For us, in law enforcement, we just have to be prepared for anything. We cannot afford to be dismissive, we cannot afford to be alarming. We just have to be ready for whatever happens. “
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Some state house protests have begun to break up after drawing only a modest crowd – no more than a few dozen protesters in most places.
Officials had fortified state houses with additional police, National Guard troops, and fencing after the FBI warned of the possibility of armed demonstrations at all 50 capitals.
Still, some didn’t have protesters all Sunday. The Nevada Capitol in Carson City was empty except for one person holding a sign that read, “ Trump Lost. Be adults. Go home.”
In Richmond, Virginia, police vehicles, dump trucks, and orange barrels blocked the streets around the Capitol, but there were no signs of demonstrations.
It was a similar story in Springfield, Illinois. Capitol windows were boarded up as a precaution for fear of a rally similar to the Trump rally that preceded the January 6 uprising at the Capitol, when a violent mob attempted to stop Electoral College certification for President-elect Joe Biden .
Mid-afternoon Sunday, only guards and state troops remained around the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus as the crowds dissipated for the Cleveland Browns’ NFL playoff game to kick off.
Protesters also left Lansing, Michigan, in the afternoon, where state police estimated there were only 20. There were vastly outnumbered by law enforcement and media.
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Some counter-protesters have begun to pop up outside state houses to send a message against far-right groups that have threatened to disrupt President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
In Columbia, South Carolina, a group of about half a dozen people stood across the lawn of the Statehouse of pro-Trump protesters, one with a sign that said, “What are you so PROUD of, BOYS? ” It was a reference to the far-right group Proud Boys. The groups did not appear to interact.
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Stephen Rzonca, who lives minutes from the State Capitol, said he came to greet all possible protesters, even though they weren’t there by mid-day.
“I am fundamentally against the potential protesters who come here to declare the election illegal, and I do not want to be passive in expressing my disapproval of those who enter this city,” Rzonca said.
And before protesters arrived in Lansing, Michigan, a truck appeared with a sign in support of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who was the target of a thwarted kidnapping plot last year.
In the Capitol, a lone protester walked the sidewalk while federal officers, District of Columbia police, and the National Guard patrolled the area with a sign that read, “Dismiss Trump!”
“Look at this world created by Trump,” said the woman, a pensioner who lives nearby. She said she was afraid to reveal her name, gesturing to the barricades and mostly empty streets.
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Small groups of pro-Trump protesters, some armed, have begun to rally outside state houses, including in Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina.
In Lansing, Michigan, state police officers walked around the Capitol while a small group of protesters stood at a gate surrounding the 142-year-old building. Several National Guard vehicles were located in a nearby street. An armed man mistakenly referred to his name as Duncan Lemp, a Maryland man who was killed in a police raid without a fight and became a martyr for a loose network of armed anti-government extremists.
A supporter of President Donald Trump wore a red “Make American Great Again” hat while standing on the lawn with a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag. On the back of his shirt it said, “PATRIOT NOT RACIST NOT TERRORIST.”
In Columbus, Ohio, about two dozen people, several with long guns, gathered outside the Capitol while dozens of state troops and members of the National Guard guarded multiple points around the Statehouse, including every entrance. Almost every business around the main square in the city center was boarded up.
Several dozen people gathered in the South Carolina Statehouse, some with American flags. It was not immediately clear whether some in the group were also counter-protesters who supported the incoming Biden government.
A heavy presence of law enforcement officers surrounded the government complex in central Columbia. The Capitol itself has been surrounded by metal barricades for several days, and state lawmakers have announced they will not hold their scheduled in-person session this week due to the potential unrest.