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On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump supporters in Spokane, Washington gathered for a Stop the Steal rally to protest the certification of President Biden’s electoral victory. According to local media outlets, the protesters planned to gather outside the city’s Civic Theater before marching to Riverfront Park. Representatives of the Civic Theater said they did not support the rally and would call the police if a crowd gathered outside the premises.
Protesters carried pro-police “Thin Blue Line” flags, drawing a stark contrast with fellow Trump supporters in Washington, D.C., who were simultaneously attacking police officers attempting to defend the Capitol. Other paraphernalia spotted at the rally included a “Jay Inslee for Prison” sign and a poster reading “I Love Trump” above a raised middle finger. Although the rally was largely peaceful, certain protesters carried semi-automatic rifles.
Speakers at the event included local far-right politicians. Former Washington State Rep. Matt Shea—an alumnus of the American Legislative Exchange Council who was accused of domestic terrorism—falsely accused left-wing activists of storming the Capitol in Washington, saying, “It’s coming out now that it was Antifa that raided the Capitol inside today, trying to make it look like patriots!” Spokane Valley City Councilman Caleb Collier said, “You are all now under oath to defend this Republic against people like that” (as he pointed to counterprotesters) and continued with: “against the communists, the atheists, the globalists. We will not stand by and allow them to take our country.”