Fears of riots, violent clashes loom over US election

Fears of riots and violent clashes loom over the US as the nation votes in the presidential election on Tuesday after a campaign that deepened the polarisation following months of agitationIn sign of election eve anxiety in trendy shopping areas in New York city and elsewhere rows of highend businesses were clad in plywood as a precaution against possible rioting and looting that shook the country earlier this yearThe uncertainty over the final election results which will likely not be known for several days has created scenarios where either side could start reacting to incomplete resultsA USAToday poll showed that three out of four Americans were concerned about election day violence and only one in four were confident that the transfer of power would be peaceful if the Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden defeated President Donald TrumpMilitarycom reported that ten states were actively planning to deploy the National Guard for electionrelated missions and 15 have indicated they mightJeh Johnson who was the Homeland Security Secretary under former President Barack Obama has warned about the possibility of election unrestHe told a CBS network programme that he could not rule out the possibility of tensions some unrest on election day and in the immediate aftermath adding that the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI was very very focused on this issueSeveral recent incidents beyond the violence during the antiracism protests have raised concernDemocratic Party candidate Joe Bidens campaign bus was trailed by a convoy of President Donald Trumps supporters flying their flags which sometimes surrounded the bus on the highwaysThe FBI was looking into the incident in which Biden said they tried to run the bus off the road and it may have caused him to cancel some campaign stopsTrump brushed it off in a tweet asserting these patriots did nothing wrongSeveral Trump supporters on Sunday disrupted traffic on a bridge near the city as well as a highway in New JerseyOn October 25 a peaceful convoy of Jewish supporters of Trump was pelted with stones by Bidens supporters as they drove through New York CityAny of these incidents could spark clashes between supporters of either candidatesAntigovernment protesters known as Antifa short for antifascist who have taken advantage to the antipolice protests to take over parts of some cities in Washington and Oregon states have faced off with extreme rightwing groups like the Proud BoysBiden has disputed the very existence of Antifa which though not a direct support of his is on the same side on some issues while group members including one who shot and killed a Trump supporter assert the groups existenceA major concern for the US is the widespread gun ownership legal and illegalThere has been a surge in gun purchases even before the election campaign started off in earnest perhaps due to the fear and uncertainties spawned by the Covid19 pandemicAccording to National Public Radio FBI background checks for legally buying guns shot up 69 per cent in the first half of the year compared to 2019While attention has been focused on Trump supporters who oppose any control of gun ownership and form a staunch base and flaunt their guns in 2017 a group of Republican members of Congress were attacked by a person who had worked for the campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders who had run for the Democratic presidential nominationFive persons including Republican Whip Scalise and two police officers were injured before the police killed the assailantKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever