Thousands of red-hatted protesters filled the streets of Washington DC today to demand "four more years" for Donald Trump's presidency.
Despite a stinging decision yesterday at the US Supreme Court - which snubbed a last-ditch effort by Trump backers to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's 3 November victory - those at the rally insisted their candidate had won and made their views loudly known.
Thousands gathered around Freedom Plaza, a few blocks from the White House, in a festive atmosphere.
It was a sizeable crowd, but noticeably smaller than a similar rally a month ago when 10,000 people converged near the White House to support President Trump.
"We're not gonna give up," said Luke Wilson, a sixty-something protester who had come all the way from the western state of Idaho.
"I believe there is a big injustice being done to the American people," added Dell Quick, a regular at Mr Trump's political rallies. He brandished a flag defending gun rights.
Protesters offered no shortage of explanations for the November vote result, even though it has been affirmed by state election officials - several of them Republican - and by judges in several key states.
Every state has now certified Mr Biden's victory, giving the Democrat 306 votes in the Electoral College to Trump's 232, with 270 required for election. Electors are to formally cast their votes Monday.
Our Washington Correspondent Brian O'Donovan talks to Donald Trump supporters after the US Supreme Court dismissed a bid by Texas to overturn the results of the presidential election. | Read more: https://t.co/mVmPX35RAC pic.twitter.com/4wMzAHE5Z6
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 12, 2020
But protesters insisted, as Donald Trump has repeatedly done, that there was widespread fraud in the election, without evidence to back up this claim.
Some pointed to "foreign interference," others to software that allegedly erased millions of votes for the president - but not those for other Republican candidates on the same ballots.
Dozens of court cases alleging fraud or contesting the result have been decided - virtually all in Joe Biden's favour, with some judges offering stinging criticism of the lack of evidence.
But that was not enough for 47-year-old Darlene Denton, who wore a "Trump 2024" badge on her sweatshirt.
"Nobody wants to hear evidence, nobody wants to hear cases, everything just gets thrown out," said Ms Denton, who had come from Tennessee to support a president she said had given "a voice to the people."
Mr Trump, in stark defiance of the clear result and of US tradition, has refused to concede to Mr Biden.
"Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal," he tweeted early today. "Didn't know about this, but I'll be seeing them!"
Among the protesters, members of the far-right militia group the Proud Boys were clearly visible - in their signature black-and-yellow outfits, some wearing bulletproof vests - and they often drew cheers from others in the crowd.
Some blocks away, supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement held their own, much smaller, rally, chanting "Nazis out!"
US carries out a further execution
US authorities have carried out their 10th execution of the year, the last in a series of capital punishments that President Donald Trump's administration has carried out before he leaves office.
Alfred Bourgeois, an African-American sentenced to death for the murder of his two-year-old daughter, was executed by lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
"Bourgeois was pronounced deceased at 8:21 pm Eastern Standard Time by the Vigo County Coroner," the federal prison said in a statement.
The execution occurred a day after another convicted prisoner, Brandon Bernard, was also executed in Terre Haute.
Following a paternity test, Bourgeois, a 55-year-old former truck driver, took temporary custody of his daughter and brought her on a trucking route for part of the summer of 2002.
He severely abused her and eventually smashed her skull on the windshield.
Since the crime took place on a military base where he was making a delivery, he was tried in federal court and sentenced to death in 2004.
He remained on death row, with the United States having suspended federal executions beginning in 2003, in particular because of questions over the legality of drugs used in injections.
However,m President Trump restarted federal executions in July - even though states still using capital punishment have delayed theirs due to the dangers posed to prison staff and witnesses by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Seven federal executions occurred before the 3 November 3 election.
President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to work with US Congress to bring an end to federal executions.
