Philadelphia police are investigating an alleged plot to attack the city’s Pennsylvania Convention Center, where ballots from the 2020 presidential election are continuing to be counted. According to local outlet 6 ABC Action News, law enforcement officials responded to the scene Thursday night after receiving a tip about a Hummer driving from Virginia with armed individuals inside.
Authorities say they found at least one weapon inside of the vehicle, which remained on 13th Street early Friday morning. Two people were taken into police custody and transferred to Central Detectives. The outlet notes that “it’s unclear how or if the people are connected to the investigation.”
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HLN Philadelphia affiliate WPVI reports: “Police got a tip about a group, possibly a family, driving up from Virginia in a Hummer to unleash an attack at the Convention Center.” pic.twitter.com/w1IRcwsWb6
— HLN (@HLNTV) November 6, 2020
Video from the scene showed authorities surrounding the vehicle and one person detained. According to The Washington Post, several photos from the scene also showed a Hummer with a Virginia license plate. A hat located inside of the vehicle had the insignia for the right-wing conspiracy group QAnon, a group that buys into a theory that centers on a supposed “deep state” acting against President Donald Trump, who is trying to take down a Satanic cult of pedophiles. No part of the theory has been found to be true. Several news outlets also noted that the vehicle had a window sticker with an abbreviation of the conspiracy group’s rallying cry, “Where we go one, we go all.”
No injuries were reported in the arrest and the investigation into the alleged plot is ongoing. As of 3 a.m., the FBI had taken over the investigation, though the agency did not respond to a request for comment from the Post.
Philadelphia police say they stopped an alleged plot to attack a vote counting center.
Police say they got a tip about armed people driving a Hummer up from Virginia to the PA Convention Center. At least 1 was arrested. Earlier, Trump supporters protested to stop vote counting. pic.twitter.com/1AQEpwN55d
— AJ+ (@ajplus) November 6, 2020
The alleged plot comes amid rising tension as votes continue to be tallied in the presidential election. As of this posting, a New York Times election results map showed Trump leading in Pennsylvania by just 8,000 votes, with approximately 95% of all votes counted in the state. If Pennsylvania is called for Biden and he receives the state’s 20 electoral votes, it would push him over the 270 threshold required to win the presidency. Currently, Biden has a projected 253 electoral votes, with the president trailing with 214.
