ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — A group of 150 from Elizabethtown were among the protesters at the “March for Trump” rally on Jan. 6.
The effort was organized by private citizen Danielle Lindemuth of Elizabethtown. Four buses drove the group to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night.
“We did not go to say goodbye to Donald Trump. We went to actually support him with an expectation there’s an outcome,” said Don Lamb of Elizabethtown, who was part of the caravan of buses.
The day that began with peaceful pro-Trump demonstrations, however, turned violent when some of the crowd pushed past police to storm the Capitol.
Members of the group said the rioters inside the Capitol building weren’t part of the main protest, which did breach barricades surrounding the building to stand on the steps.
“There was a group that decided they wanted to storm the steps. The intent was not to go inside. The intent was to let them know inside that we were there because we were too far back for them to hear us,” Lindemuth said.
At least two Pennsylvania legislators joined the protesters.
State Rep. Doug Mastriano (R-Adams) was photographed with former State Rep. Rick Saccone (R-Elizabeth) in a photo posted on Saccone’s Facebook.
Saccone also posted a video on Facebook, since deleted, in which he seems to support storming the Capitol.
“We’re trying to run out all the evil people in there and all the RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) that have betrayed our president. We’re gonna’ run them out of their offices,” Saccone said in the video.
Despite facing tear gas and flash bangs from police at the rally, members of the Elizabethtown group said they felt their voices had been heard.
“We went there and stood up for our own sense of injustice...” Lamb said. “Everyone was able to express themselves.”
The invasion of the Capitol forced legislators to temporarily halt the vote to confirm Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election.
Any peaceful protest was largely overshadowed by the rioting inside the Capitol, which has been condemned by many state, national and international leaders.