Roland Torres, a supporter of President Donald Trump, chants during a “Stop The Steal” protest at the Clark County Election Center in North Las Vegas Friday, Nov. 6, 2020.
Friday, Nov. 6, 2020 | 9 p.m.
On the third consecutive night of protesting at the Clark County election center, President Donald Trump supporters vowed that their fight would not stop, suggesting that Tuesday’s election is illegitimate.
Although Trump’s chances for reelection slim by the hour, the crowd, about 300 strong, waved flags as conservative activists Courtney Holland and Michael Coudrey — organizers with the #stopthesteal national movement — rallied them Friday night.
As of Friday afternoon, Joe Biden’s lead in Nevada was 22,657 votes, with tabulations expected to be completed in the coming days.
The protest came the same day a federal judge tossed a lawsuit brought forward by the president’s campaign in Nevada.
Trump has falsely alleged widespread voter fraud as the U.S. awaits results here that could give Biden the 270 electoral votes he needs to take the White House, pending results in Arizona, where the former vice president's lead has slimmed.
Nevada’s six Electoral College votes might not matter, as Biden could also claim victory in Pennsylvania, where he overtook the lead Friday.
Protesters huddled on the sidewalks overlooking the election site in North Las Vegas, one of two locations in Clark County tallying votes. Instead of facing the building, they faced the street and interacted with passing motorists, some honking in support and a few yelling expletives.
Aside from provocative, protected speech, the protest remained peaceful. North Las Vegas Police officers, who’ve been guarding the election center, made a show of resources early in the protest.
Earlier this week in Arizona, protesters, some of whom were armed, tried to make their way into an election facility. That hasn’t occurred here.
For pedestrian safety, police blocked a Cheyenne Avenue lane and a smaller adjoining road. Officers instructed people on the sidewalks, and a pair of officers overlooked the rally from the building's rooftop. Demonstrators weren't allowed in the building's parking lot.
Earlier Friday, Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria described that security providing safety for his staff as “outstanding.” Workers were encouraged to take a security escort when walking to their cars, he said.
Gloria wouldn’t comment as to whether he or his workers had received any credible threats. On Wednesday, a heckler yelling unsubstantiated conspiracies interrupted his press conference.
At the protest, a woman took to a megaphone to declare that Biden wasn’t her president, that she didn’t vote for him, and that she would never support him. A man decried the media, telling reporters to go cover their “(expletive) California.”
“I would say that 95%, maybe 99%, of people here don’t trust the election’s infrastructure,” Coudrey told the crowd. “You want to trust that this election is going to be legitimate, or do you think it’s a product of fraud?”
“Fraud!” they shot back. “That’s what I thought," said Coudrey, "Me, too.”
“All eyes are on Nevada right now, all eyes are on Arizona right now,” said Coudrey, adding that Trump didn’t appoint Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett so that the election could be “stolen.”
Before the election, and in the days since, Trump and his campaign have taken a sledgehammer into the integrity of the election process to sow distrust among his supporters.
His diehard backers have taken the bait, echoing his meritless conspiracies: Were ballots cast for dead registered voters? How did his early count advantage in tossup states vanish overnight?
It’s too early to tell if there will be long-term consequences. As of now, the Nevada protests remain tame, even festive. The group, at one point, began singing "God Bless America" in unison.
"Trump won! Trump Won!" they chanted. "Covid is a lie!" they shouted about the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed at least 236,000 lives in the U.S. since March, and 1,835 reported deaths in Nevada, most of which have occurred in Clark County.
Holland said a protest was scheduled at the Nevada Capitol in Carson City Saturday, which will overlap with a fourth protest at the election center in North Las Vegas. The #stopthesteal page on Facebook, which had amassed over 350,000 members, was suspended by the tech giant on Thursday, but professionally made signs made an appearance at the protest.
“Across the country, we have boots on the ground in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Georgia and Phoenix ... We want to show Donald Trump, our great president, that we stand behind him, and we are not giving up,” Holland said.
