B4 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 , 2020
chanted and danced in the street.
Last year, hundreds of D.C. po-
lice officers kept far-right agita-
tors, including members of the
Proud Boys, and left-wing anti-
fascist protesters clad in black
from clashing during dueling ral-
lies at Freedom Plaza and nearby
Pershing Park. Though the groups
interacted at times during the
July 2019 demonstration, the pro-
tests did not turn violent. The
crowd of counterprotesters far
outnumbered the right-wing
demonstrators.
Christopher Rodriguez, D.C.’s
director of homeland security and
emergency management, said in a
news conference Thursday that
officials are expecting a relatively
small turnout at Saturday’s rally
spread out among about a dozen
groups.
[email protected]
[email protected]Julie Zauzmer and Katie Mettler
contributed to this report.Black Lives Matter Plaza that has
grown on and around the tall
chain-link fence encircling Lafa-
yette Square.
Last month, a group of Trump
supporters in D.C. for Supreme
Court Justice Amy Coney Bar-
rett’s confirmation hearings tore
down a number of the signs. Ac-
tivists rebuilt the memorial the
next day, and several have been
standing guard since.
Past protests in Washington
that have featured white national-
ists and far-right provocateurs
have been dwarfed by counter-
demonstrators.
A year after the Unite the Right
rally in Charlottesville turned
deadly when a car plowed into a
crowd of counterprotesters, a
small handful of white suprema-
cists came to D.C. for the “Unite
the Right 2” rally. Organizers had
hoped hundreds would join them,
but about three dozen attended.
They were drowned out by
crowds of counterprotesters, whoclosed between 18th Street NW
and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. On
the other side of the Mall, Inde-
pendence Avenue will be closed
from 14th Street to Ohio Avenue
SW. Several main thoroughfares,
including New York Avenue and
G, H, I and K streets, will be shut
down from 9th Street NW to 18th
Street NW.
D.C. police were put on high
alert last week with fears of unrest
and violent protests that many
cities expected could follow Elec-
tion Day. Although those fears
didn’t materialize, many down-
town D.C. businesses remained
boarded up through the weekend
— and the raucous celebrations
that followed Biden’s victor y.
The mayor said she is still urg-
ing businesses to remove the
boards, even with the Saturday
rallies in mind.
Local activists are taking pre-
cautions as they prepare for Sat-
urday, including efforts to safe-
guard the living monument atD.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser
(D) said city officials have been
monitoring social media chatter
around the planned events.
“We continue to follow those
activities and be prepared,” Bows-
er said at a n ews conference this
week. “Our police chief will have a
similar posture this weekend as
he did last week. We will be there
to support peaceful First Amend-
ment demonstrations.”
Bowser warned out-of-town
visi tors against bringing firearms
to the city, noting D.C. has more
strict firearm laws than other
parts of the country. Gun owners
are allowed to carry a concealed
weapon with the proper license
but carrying a gun openly is pro-
hibited. It is also illegal to possess
a magazine that can hold more
than 10 rounds of ammunition.
D.C. police announced road
closures and parking restrictions
throughout downtown.
Beginning 6 a.m. Saturday,
Constitution Avenue will besaid. “One, you erode your voters’
trust in the process and thus their
interest in participating in it go-
ing forward. T wo, you also refuse
to adapt to Virginia’s political
reality so you can hopefully be
competitive going forward.
“Every day you spend saying
the last election was stolen is one
day you lose to prepare for the
next election,” Martin said.
I n Virginia, Republican Nick
Freitas is among the handful of
candidates refusing to concede
after losing to Democratic Rep.
Abigail Spanberger by two points.
After days of silence, he released a
statement Thursday saying he
was investigating alleged “irregu-
larities” in the results while ac-
knowledging his efforts probably
would not change the outcome.
He later insisted the statement
was not an admission of defeat.
“There seems to be some con-
fusion on my statement so allow
me to clarify. I h ave not conced-
ed,” he wrote on Facebook. “I have
not stopped fighting or investi-
gating the results.”
In Maryland, Republican Kim
Klacik conceded to Rep. Kweisi
Mfume (D) but has continued to
make claims of voter fraud. S he
raised millions for the race after
Trump boosted a viral campaign
ad and says she may use leftover
campaign funds to investigate
results in her race, while also
backing Trump’s efforts.
“I will keep my eyes glued to
the television and hope President
Trump prevails,” she said in a
vide o posted to Facebook once nt of donations going toward
Trump’s campaign account for
debt retirement and the rest go-
ing to a “Recount Account.”
Cline wrote on F acebook that
he and other lawmakers wrote to
Attorney General William P. Barr
saying it was “appropriate for
him to examine ‘substantial alle-
gations’ of voter fraud that may
exist.... In a c lose race such as
this, we all should be insisting
that every legal vote is counted
before a winner is declared.”
And Wittman, saying courts
should hear Trump’s case, also
posted: “We must ensure the in-
tegrity of our elections and we
must follow the laws on the
books.... Every legally cast vote
should be counted and every inel-
igible vote should not.”
Tucker Martin, who was com-
munications director for
t hen-Virginia Gov. Bob McDon-
nell (R), said Republicans’ refusal
to acknowledge B iden’s win is a
refusal to “live in reality.” As for
Republicans accepting results in
their own races but not in
Trump’s, he said, “The election
results aren’t a b uffet. You can’t
choose the ones you like and not
the ones you don’t.”
Republicans have not won a
statewide race in Virginia since
McDonnell was elected in 2009.
Martin said party leaders risk
harming their brand by question-
ing the election results.
“When you’re making claims of
fraud about margins that large,
you do two things that are both
negative for future prospects,” hea baseless conspiracy theory.
“When you see vote totals like
this, and you have these theories
that don’t bear fruit, that have no
basis in fact, it starts to take away
the moral authority of these law-
suits,” he said.
“Are you telling me these indi-
viduals were so exquisite in their
planning that they could fix the
election for Joe Biden, but go
ahead and let Republicans attain
multiple seats in the House and
maintain their hold on the Sen-
ate? It’s a ridiculous notion.”
Election officials nationwide
have said there is no evidence of
significant voter fraud in the elec-
tion, and several legal challenges
by the Trump administration
have already been rejected.
But the president has refused
to concede, even as Biden’s lead
grows. Many Republicans are em-
bracing his attacks on the elector-
al system and his efforts to over-
turn results in key states.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan
(R), like Riggleman, is an excep-
tion; he was among the first
Republicans to recognize Biden’s
victory and denounce efforts to
undermine its legitimacy.
Griffith, in contrast, encour-
aged people on Facebook to con-
tribute to Trump’s “official elec-
tion defense fund,” with 50 per-And of the five sitting Republi-
can members of Congress in Vir-
ginia and Maryland, only outgo-
ing Rep. Denver Riggleman
(R-Va.) has said he accepts Biden’s
victory.
Reps. Andy Harris (R-Md.), H.
Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and Rob
Wittman (R-Va.) did not respond
to questions about whether they
recognize Biden as president-
ele ct, and a spokesman for Rep.
Ben Cline (R-Va.) said he could
not be reached.
All four have backed Trump’s
legal challenges in public state-
ments, to varying degrees.
Harris said on Facebook that
he was not a lleging fraud but that
“secret unobserved vote counting
in the swing states means that we
will have to wait until a court
unravels what really went on.
When that thorough investiga-
tion is over, and we know that
only legal votes have been count-
ed then we will know who the real
winner is — a nd then and only
then we need to move on.”
Riggleman, who was defeated
by Good in a nominating conven-
tion this summer, said he believes
any instances of fraud should be
rooted out. But he called allega-
tions of widespread illegal voting
ELECTION FROM B1
Many Va., Md. Republicans follow Trump playbook
tional Park Service have issued
permits for the demonstrations,
although the Park Service is pro-
cessing a permit application from
Women for America First, a pro-
Trump group that has advertised
“Stop the Steal” rallies on its so-
cial media pages. It estimated in a
permit application that about 50
people would attend its event.
The Park Service regularly
works with groups that do not
obtain permits before an event to
register for one on-site and, if
necessary, to move to a safer loca-
tion. It was not clear whether the
Park Police or Park Service had
plans to approach demonstrators
Saturday.night in the nation’s capital.
Trump campaign adviser Jason
Miller responded to a tweet
Thursday in support of the rally,
saying, “Love the outpouring of
support for @realDon-
aldTrump!”
A handful of anti-Trump rallies
have also been announced, in-
cluding one near Union Station
organized by local activists and a
protest involving Refuse Fascism
D.C., which has said it intends to
stand against “the Trump re-
gime 's attempts to steal the elec-
tion.”
Neither D.C. police nor the Na-
PROTESTS FROM B1
Pro-Trump rallies
expected in D.C.
On Election Day, the Associat-
ed Press called the race for War-
ner at 7 p .m., moments after the
polls closed, which Gade said
infuriated him. He was leading by
at least 200,000 votes in early
returns. Then came the absentee
ballots. He eventually lost by
roughly half a million votes.
Gade said he woke up the next
day and accepted what he knew
to be true: It wasn’t a c onspiracy.
Rather, more Democrats voted
early and by mail, and those
ballots were reported last.
“It’s a dangerous idea to pre-
tend as though somehow our
elections are illegitimate,” Gade
said. “After it ’s clear that a candi-
date has lost, it’s inappropriate
for that candidate or his or her
supporters to undermine the re-
sults of the election.”
[email protected]Wednesday night. “If not, I still
will support him 100 percent
even after the fact.”
A nother long-shot candidate,
Virginia Republican John Collick,
rescinded his concession to long-
time Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott
(D) on Monday, as GOP-driven
claims of “irregularities” picked
up. Anantatmula, who chal-
lenged Connolly, said on Face-
book that she won’t admit defeat
“until after the [Supreme Court]
decision on irregularities and
massive voter fraud nationwide.”
As of now, there is no such case
before the high court.
Virginia Republican Daniel
Gade, who conceded to Sen. Mark
R. Warner (D-Va.) the morning
after the election, said he knows
the losing candidates’ frustration
— but said it’s time to accept
reality.JULIO CORTEZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kimberly Klacik (R) conceded to Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D) in a U.S.
House race in Maryland but persists in her claims of voter fraud.BY JUSTIN JOUVENALA man shot his adult son and
turned the gun on himself
Wednesday night in what investi-
gators believe was a murder-sui-
cide attempt in the parking lot of
a shooting range in Fairfax Coun-
ty, police said.
Officers responded shortly be-fore 9 p.m. to a report of a
shooting at the Sharpshooters In-
door Range on Terminal Road in
Lort on on Wednesday and found
the two men with life-threatening
injuries, Fairfax County police
said. Both were rushed to the
hospital, where they were being
treated Thursday.
A preliminary investigationhas determined that the father
bought a gun at the range, then
used it to fire on his son, who was
in a car outside the range build-
ing, police said. Police said the
man then shot himself.
Police have not identified the
men involved and said they are
continuing to investigate wheth-
er the gun was purchased legally.Sharpshooters referred ques-
tions to police and said it wasn’t
commenting on the incident.
The shooting capped an un-
usual spate of violence for Fairfax
County.
Police said they are continuing
to investigate the shooting of a
17-year-old male who was found
Wednesday in a home in the
10300 block of Steamboat Land-
ing Lane in Burke. The teenager
suffered life-threatening injuries
and is in a hospital.
Police have not described the
circumstances of that shooting
but said alcohol is believed to
have been a factor. An 18-year-old
man, who was known to the vic-
tim, also was in the home and is
cooperating with the investiga-
tion, police said.
Police also are investigating a
fatal shooting at a Motel 6 in
Springfield on Tuesday night.
They said the victim, whose iden-
tity was not released, was a male
juvenile.
Police said the death has been
ruled a homicide and that investi-
gators are examining the possibil-
ity that a conflict occurred in the
room where the youth’s body was
found. Investigators think alco-
hol also was a factor in that
shooting.
[email protected]Justin Wm. Moyer and Dana
Hedgpeth contributed to this report.VIRGINIAMan shoots son, self after buying gun, police say
20-0982BusinessProctor revolt: Design ed to catch exam cheati ng, online
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