Two detained outside Pennsylvania vote count center in alleged attack plot
Local media reports the men are suspected of planning to attack convention center, as Trump spreads false claims of widespread voter fraud
US police detained two men outside a Philadelphia polling station in Pennsylvania Thursday night, a battleground state yet to declare a winner in the presidential election, local media reported.
According to the state’s 6ABC Action News the men were suspected of an alleged plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Center as votes are counted there.
The Philadephia Inquirer said the two men were detained shortly after 10 p.m. The local newspaper said the men were detained following a tip-off.
No injuries were reported.
The hugely contentious US election has come down to four states — Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada — deciding the victor.
Since election day the president has fired off tweets calling for ballot counting to be stopped, and contended without proof that there has been voter fraud.
But his tweets have been masked with notices telling people the claims are misleading.
On Thursday Facebook shut down pro-Trump group “Stop the Steal” that was organizing protests against vote-counting.
US election officials in several states said Thursday they were worried about the safety of their staff amid a stream of threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside their doors, drawn by Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House.
Groups of Trump supporters have gathered at vote tabulation sites in Phoenix, Detroit and Philadelphia, decrying counts that showed Democrat Joe Biden leading or gaining ground.
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