Supporters of Trump election, Black Lives Matter engage in war of words in Greensburg

A Saturday afternoon rally for those who don’t accept President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of this month’s election briefly spilled onto Greensburg’s Main Street as supporters of President Trump confronted motorists who drove by with signs and chants expressing a different view.

As an estimated 200 people gathered for the 1776 Rally For Election Integrity, beneath spotty rain outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse, supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement circled the block in a motorcade — an alternative format for rallies on that issue that have been held regularly at Courthouse Square for several months.

About 15 Greensburg police officers responded to direct traffic and keep motorists moving safely after the motorcade made an initial pass in front of the courthouse and at least one driver directed comments toward the Trump supporters, many of whom rushed into the street to respond.

Some of the cars displayed signs making digs at the president, such as “Trump lies matter.”

Police said no charges resulted. For the remainder of the 75-minute rally, the two camps kept their distance while continuing to sound off.

Motorists’ chant of “Black Lives Matter” drew responses of “all lives matter” or “blue lives matter,” the latter an expression of support for police.

The 1776 rally also elicited plenty of honks and thumbs-up from other passing motorists.

Ed Kroupa of Penn Township, a rally organizer, acknowledged the right of the Black Lives Matter contingent to exercise their freedom of speech.

“We can still do that in America,” he said.

“We believe that everybody has the right to freedom of assembly and peaceful protest,” Kroupa said. “We’re here because we want to support fair elections. We believe that, with every legal ballot counted, President Trump will be the winner.”

Richard Bettis, an Army veteran from Greensburg who waved a Trump campaign flag, agreed.

“Biden didn’t have half the support Donald Trump did,” he said. “There’s no way he could have won this election, not in a fair election.”

Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden leads Pennsylvania, where ballots are still being counted, by nearly 82,000 votes, according to the latest figures from The Associated Press. Biden leads 50% to Trump’s 48.8%.

Major media outlets called Pennsylvania and its 20 Electoral College votes for Biden on Nov. 7. That gave the presumptive winner enough projected Electoral College votes to take the White House.

Trump and his allies claim Biden won the election because of widespread, coordinated election fraud in Pennsylvania and other key swing states, but no evidence has surfaced supporting such claims.

The Trump campaign continues to pursue legal challenges in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Many such lawsuits already have been thrown out of courtrooms nationwide.

Speakers at the rally expressed mistrust of “mainstream” media and called for supporters to report alleged irregularities in Pennsylvania voting procedures.

Janet Pringle, of Dawson, who describes herself as a senior supporter of Trump, said she attended the rally to “see freedom reign for my grandchildren.”

She was among a majority at the rally who did not wear face masks.

She said her disregard of health experts’ pleas to wear masks in public to help control the coronavirus pandemic was “my choice. I don’t have the virus, so I don’t need protected.”