HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – The leader of the Virginia Tea Party, Nelson Velez, boarded a bus on Wednesday morning way before the sun came up.
He said it was cold and windy as the bus carried about 55 people to Washington, D.C., to hear President Donald Trump speak, show their support and express concerns over election fraud.
Velez said they were outside for five hours and headed over to the Capitol after the President encouraged peaceful protests. According to Velez, there were no bathrooms and not much available food or drinks to buy. He also said people were having trouble with phone calls.
Velez said his group headed to the front of the Capitol, but soon heard flash bombs and police sirens coming from the back of the building. He said they headed back to the bus to avoid any problems.
“We came as Americans to exercise our freedom, to petition our government as we have done in the past; we condemn all violence," Velez said. "Americans against Americans should not happen. It should never happen, and we should never get to that point. That is something that happens in other countries. It should never happen here. We hope somehow through all of this we can somehow reconnect with one another as Americans once again.”
