Supporters of President Donald Trump staged demonstrations at the Capitols of multiple states on Wednesday, with some entering the statehouses, as crowds storm the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC, to protest the certification of the Electoral College votes, which would officially declare Joe Biden the winner of the presidential election.
Protesters gathered outside the Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta on Wednesday. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) and his staff evacuated the building.
Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system implementation manager told the Associated Press that Raffensperger made the decision for his staff to leave to avoid being a potential “spark.”
“We saw stuff happening at the Georgia Capitol and said we should not be around here, we should not be a spark,” Sterling said.
Raffensperger has drawn ire from Republicans and supporters of President Donald Trump for his handling of the 2020 Presidential election in the state and his purported refusal to address allegations of voter fraud.
At press time, the Atlanta protests appear to have remained peaceful.
Several of the protesters in Atlanta were filmed with long guns:
In Kansas, demonstrators have entered the statehouse, KSNT confirmed. The protest has reportedly remained peaceful, with a small number of demonstrators occupying the rotunda. Trump won Kansas in the election and its electoral votes are not facing congressional challenge.
In Arizona, a large crowd gathered in Phoenix to protest the state’s election results. Joe Biden won Arizona by a slim margin in the 2020 election and the state’s electoral votes face a challenge from the GOP. The Phoenix protest appears to have remained outside the Capitol building.