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fullscreen The Capitol in Washington, seat of the US Congress, is seen behind a security fence. Archive image. Photo: Julia Nikhinson/AP/TT
The US is charging for a violent election.
Shop owners nail windows and election workers are protected with burglar alarms and metal detectors. Hundreds of soldiers from the national guard are ready to move in if the election goes astray.
In Washington DC, barricades and fences are being erected. Shop windows are covered with wooden planks and the White House, the Capitol and Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence are protected by metal fences, the BBC reports.
This year’s election campaign has been marked by violence, with attempted murders, shootings at campaign offices, burnt ballot boxes and hateful rhetoric. Republican outbursts about voter fraud and questioning of the integrity of the election process have added to the tensions.
As recently as last week, Trump claimed that the only thing that can stop his “enormous victory” is electoral fraud.
– Parts of the heightened risk we see are linked to former president Donald Trump’s rhetoric, Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, told the Los Angeles Times.
Right-wing extremists call for violence
As a result, polling stations and vote counting offices have beefed up security with bomb dogs, metal detectors, burglar alarms and even snipers, the newspaper writes. Others have installed bulletproof glass and video surveillance, according to Axios. In the wave master state of Arizona, Reuters reports on drones and hidden shooters to protect voters and election workers.
Ahead of the election, far-right groups supporting Trump have urged supporters to be ready to challenge the election results. Anything short of a Trump victory amounts to a miscarriage of justice that justifies an uprising, right-wing groups on Telegram argue in an analysis by The New York Times.
Through an analysis of over one million Telegram messages, the paper has found a sprawling but interconnected movement with the goal of questioning the credibility of the election, disrupting the electoral process – and potentially questioning the outcome.
No time to “play militia”
Among the rioters is the group Proud Boys, according to The New York Times. The movement had a leading role in storming the US Congress in January 2021, which followed Trump’s refusal to concede defeat in the November 2020 election.
Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia district attorney in swing state Pennsylvania, is warning potential rioters ahead of Tuesday’s election.
– Anyone who thinks it’s time to play militia – blame yourself. Anyone who thinks it’s time to insult, mock, mistreat and threaten people – blame yourself, he said during a press conference on Monday.
In a poll by NPR, 72 percent of American voters say they are concerned about violence in the wake of the election.