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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 Joe 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 Stop the Steal rally and would call the police if a crowd gathered outside the premises.
Protesters carried pro-police “Thin Blue Line” flags, drawing a contrast with the assault that fellow Trump supporters were simultaneously inflicting on police in Washington, D.C. Other signs and paraphernalia spotted at the rally included a “Jay Inslee for Prison” sign and a poster reading “The ‘I Love Trump Sign'” above a raised middle finger. Although the Stop the Steal Rally was largely peaceful, protesters were seen carrying semi-automatic rifles.
Speakers at the event included local far-right politicians. Former Washington State Rep. Matt Shea—a former leader of the American Legislative Exchange Council who was accused of domestic terrorism—falsely blamed left-wing radicals for 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 motioned toward counter protesters. Collier continued, “Against the communists, the atheists, the globalists, we will not stand by and allow them to take our country.”