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HARRISBURG, Pa./LANSING, Mich. (Reuters) - Law enforcement officers far outnumbered protesters at state capitol grounds on Sunday, as few Trump supporters who believe the president’s false claim that he won the 2020 election turned out for what authorities feared could be violent demonstrations.
More than a dozen states activated National Guard troops to help secure their capitol buildings following an FBI warning of armed demonstrations, with right-wing extremists emboldened by the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6.
Security officials had eyed Sunday as the first major flashpoint, as the anti-government “boogaloo” movement made plans weeks ago to hold rallies in all 50 states.
Candy Woodall
USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania Capitol Bureau
Sen. Pat Toomey, a Lehigh Valley Republican, voted against his party in favor of proceeding with former President Donald Trump s second impeachment trial.
Toomey, who previously announced he is not seeking reelection, on Tuesday was one of five U.S. Senate Republicans who did not vote for a procedural effort to dismiss the trial.
In a statement, the senator said he is following the Constitution.
“There are legal and constitutional arguments both favoring and opposing an impeachment trial of a former president, Toomey said.
“In my view, the text and context of the Constitution, the meaning of the term ‘impeachment’ to the founders, and the most relevant precedents indicate that it is constitutionally permissible for the Senate to consider the impeachment of President Trump.
Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican from York County, said he introduced former President Donald J. Trump and Department of Justice lawyer Jeffrey Clark, who subscribed to Trump s false claims that the election was stolen, at the former president s request.
“Throughout the past four years, I worked with Assistant Attorney General Clark on various legislative matters. When President Trump asked if I would make an introduction, I obliged, Perry said in a statement. My conversations with the President or the Assistant Attorney General, as they have been with all with whom I’ve engaged following the election, were a reiteration of the many concerns about the integrity of our elections, and that those allegations should at least be investigated to ease the minds of the voters that they had, indeed, participated in a free and fair election.
Headline by headline, Perry had taken the moderate seat vacated by Platts, who prided himself on running positive campaigns and later became a York County judge, and pushed it further to the far right.
He started to face more opposition in his new, gerrymandered 10th Congressional district, which included all of Dauphin County and parts of Cumberland and York counties.
Perry inherited more Democrats from Harrisburg and the surrounding suburbs as well as a 2018 challenger who was an Army veteran and Lutheran pastor in favor of gun safety. Donald Trump’s loyal soldiers, like Scott Perry, exploit guns and God to score political points, his opponent George Scott said in a viral ad in which he dismantled a gun and tossed it in a fire.
The legislation aims to keep Pennsylvanians in their home by:
Providing legal and financial help
Extending the state ban on evictions 60 days after the emergency declaration
Providing payment plans and limiting late fees
Expunging eviction records
Helping homeless veterans and students
Reforming renting practices at mobile home lots
How federal housing stimulus will impact PA
Democratic lawmakers said they also expect the $852 million in federal housing aid to Pennsylvania, which was passed in the second stimulus package last month, to be distributed more smoothly this time.
There were serious problems with the first distribution last spring, according to Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, a Democrat from Philadelphia.