Tensions Brewing Outside Pennsylvania Convention Center Between Biden, Trump Supporters As Vote Count Continues
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Hundreds of people from both sides of the aisle continue to surround the Pennsylvania Convention Center as ballots are still being counted. This comes as a federal court denied a Trump campaign's motion to stop the counting.
It got quite heated outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Thursday with President Donald Trump supporters on one side chanting, "Four more years!" and Joe Biden supporters chanting "Count every vote!"
While ballots are still being counted inside the convention center, tensions brewed outside -- with each side shouting a little louder than the other.
It was a heated atmosphere all day outside of the convention center with both sides vying for their candidate.
Protesters have been peaceful but there is a huge police presence near the Pennsylvania Convention Center on 12th and Arch Streets. There are barricades keeping opposing sides away from each other. But even then, they still manage to get in front of each other.
Protesters have been rather peaceful, although it has been quite loud with each side shouting and at times throwing offensive comments at each other.
"This is just showing our celebration of who we are as the city of Philadelphia," Keisha Usher-Martin, a Biden supporter, said. "I'm here to just remind the workers and everyone in Philadelphia that we do need our votes to be counted."
Trump supporters say they want to ensure there's no fraud happening inside, and Biden supporters say they want every vote to count.
Trump campaign staffers marched into the Pennsylvania Convention Center Thursday morning with an approved Commonwealth Court appeal, giving GOP monitors the right to be six feet away from sorters instead of the previously approved 20 feet.
Trump campaign staffers, including Corey Lewandowski and Pam Bondi, have been coming in and out of the convention center throughout the day, sometimes in dramatic fashion, to flash court documents at the crowd and police as they force legal challenges over the count inside.
Every time they appeared, the crowd outside got noticeably riled up.
One thing all sides agree on, they want a fair election.
"In a democracy, the solution isn't to stop counting, it's to figure out how to keep voting. In a democracy, it's not about not counting someone's vote," protester Greg Krajewski said.
"We want to make sure there's accountability, and that the ones being counted are the legal ones," said Sarah Anderson with conservative and libertarian advocacy group FreedomWorks.
Police have reported most of the streets in the immediate area of the convention center are closed. Anyone heading into the city should be prepared to navigate rolling closures and detours.
CBS3's Alecia Reid and Greg Argos contribute to this report.
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