Trump supporters, detractors gather in Hawaii; most condemn pro-Trump mob in DC

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - About 200 supporters of President Donald Trump demonstrated at Hawaii’s Capitol building on Wednesday, but they kept their demonstration peaceful and most rejected the acts of mob violence by Trump supporters who swarmed on Congress.

“The violence has got to stop. That is not the way we do things,” said Nanakuli resident and former Congressional candidate Joe Akana.

“Do we have a right to peacefully protest? Absolutely. The violence? No, that is not the way we go.”

Meanwhile, some 30 people gathered Wednesday afternoon at a counter protest at Thomas Square organized by Refuse Fascism Hawaii.

“I’m sad to say that I think this is only the beginning of what we can expect from the Trump supporters and the fascist mob,” said group spokeswoman Liz Rees.

Some at the Trump rally echoed Trump supporters debunked claims that the riot was staged by radical leftists.

“We’re not like them. We would never destroy things,” said Kaneohe resident Kerry Cruz.

Some of those at the Refuse Fascism rally said they had expected today’s violence at the nation’s capitol.

“I was a participant in the in the southern civil rights movement, and I’ve seen this kind of violence and these kinds of threats before. So once again I wasn’t entirely surprised by what happened,” said Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz.

“I’m not surprised at all,” said Rees. “I mean Trump has spent four years as president, telling lie after lie, conspiracy after conspiracy, constantly whipping up a violent, fascist mob.”

Despite the fact that Trump’s allegations of widespread voter fraud have been rejected in multiple courts and by every state, some of his Hawaii supporters still believe it.

“I’m also supporting Trump because I think he won the election fair and square. I think Biden cheated, he knows he cheated,” said Anderson Carson, a Downtown resident.

Added Yvette Moore, of Aiea:

“There was a lot of voter fraud. There was more evidence that (Trump attorney Rudy) Giuliani had about voter fraud and all the fake news and narrative that there was no voter fraud was fake,” she said.

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