Protests erupted across the US as Americans are waiting anxiously for the results of the Presidential elections with ballot counting in the final battleground states continue. A group of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered at the Arizona Capitol and Maricopa County elections centers in Phoenix demanding election workers to keep counting ballots.
While the counting is still underway, more than 150 supporters of President Donald Trump, some of them armed, gathered outside the Maricopa County election office and chanted “Count the vote,” the New York Times.
According to the New York Times report, the protestors were holding Trump flags, and numerous people were wielding AR-15 rifles and other firearms.
Meanwhile, a CNN report said that sheriff’s deputies were stationed inside the election center in Arizona while protestors crowded outside. Vote counting is ongoing in this key district, as Joe Biden has maintained a narrowing lead in Arizona. Many wore “Make America Great Again” hats and some carried signs baselessly alleging fraud.
A CNN reporter Kyung Lah, who was present at the counting center in Arizona, said her crew had to come up with an “exit plan” to leave the building. Sheriffs were seen in “tactical gear” inside the Maricopa County Elections Department.
Meanwhile, the CNN reporter on Twitter confirmed that the counting of the ballots had not stopped.
While the protestors have hit the streets, reports suggest that gun sales across America have rocketed this year following Covid-related shortages and shutdowns, racial unrest, and political tensions. According to a report by Times of India, an estimated that 5 million people are reported to have purchased firearms for the first time.
Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the "blue wall" battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan, and narrowing President Donald Trump's path.
Two days after Election Day, neither candidate had amassed the votes needed to win the White House. But Biden's victories in the Great Lakes states left him at 264, meaning he was one battleground state away - any would do - from becoming president-elect.
Trump, with 214 electoral votes, faced a much higher hurdle. To reach 270, he needed to claim all four remaining battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and Nevada.
