Only one person turns up for MAGA March on Twitter
Protests were planned at the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco to oppose its tough stance on the outgoing president
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Your support makes all the difference.A planned protest by pro-Trump supporters at the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, against the microblogging site’s decision to suspend the outgoing president’s account, appears to have been a flop with just one demonstrator turning out while dozens of police officers stood guard.
Donald Trump supporters had called for the protest on the website “Donald.win”, targeting the Twitter offices despite the fact that they are largely deserted as staff continue to work from home during the pandemic.
As police with riot gear duly assembled at the office on Monday morning, just a single pro-Trump protester showed up – as well as two counter-protesters, technology news website The Verge reported.
Twitter suspended Mr Trump’s account on 8 January after his supporters marched on the US Capitol – at his request – before overrunning police and rioting inside the Capitol Building. The attack left five people dead, including a police officer.
Mr Trump was accused of inciting the violence with both his tweets at the time and his rally speech in Washington.
There have been many calls from Trump supporters on social media for further protests in the days leading up to the inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden on 20 January, and authorities plan to spend twice as long as normal building up security measures around the event.
More than 10,000 US National Guard troops are to be deployed ahead of inauguration day, and a request for an emergency to be declared has been granted.
The additional deployment comes with 6,200 National Guard troops already stationed in the city after they were called to assist police in ending the Capitol riots.
Mr Biden has assured Americans that he remains “confident” in the security measures ahead of the swearing-in ceremony in the capital.
But demonstrators are also planning other so-called “Stop the Steal” events across the country, as Mr Trump continues to promulgate false claims of rampant voter fraud.
The FBI has said it is aware of credible threats of armed protests in all major US states on or around inauguration day, and is advising state leaders on security measures.
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