'Poll fraud shouldn't be new norm in US,' says Tricolour-waving Keralite at Capitol storming

'Poll fraud shouldn't be new norm in US,' says Tricolour-waving Keralite at Capitol storming

The bearded and bespectacled man who was seen holding the Indian national flag during the mayhem unleashed apparently by Republican sympathisers at the US Capitol has been identified as a Keralite. He is Vincent Xavier Palathingal, a member of the Republican Party's Virginia state committee.

Xavier, who hails from Vyttila in Ernakulam and works as an engineer in the US, is someone who firmly believes that the US presidential election was stolen from the incumbent Donald Trump by Joe Biden.

He claimed that the one million supporters of Trump had gathered at the Capitol for a peaceful rally and its purpose was destroyed by some 50 people who unleashed violence. He suspects that the assailants were not Trump supporters but members of the Antifa BLM group with extreme Left views which supports the Democrats.

In an unprecedented assault on democracy in the US, thousands of supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building in Washington on Thursday and clashed with police, resulting in four deaths and interrupting a constitutional process by the Congress to affirm the victory of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the election held late last year.

In an exclusive interview with Manorama News, Xavier says election fraud should not become a norm in the US.

Excerpts:

Why did you participate in the uprising?

First of all, it's not proper to call the gathering an uprising or revolt. We lead a decent life here. I'm 54. I came here after spending 25 years in India. I'm not someone who would create a ruckus or revolt.

There were around one million people there yesterday. From among them, 10-15 people created trouble after climbing the walls (of the Capitol) like Spiderman. They are well-trained professional thugs, no matter which side they belonged to. They may be from our side or people from the rival side who sneaked into the rally.

They sneaked in and opened the doors. Then some 50 people barged into the building and unleashed violence. The violence they created destroyed the beauty and the purpose of our rally.

So, if you ask me why did I revolt, we may be beginning with a wrong note. We did not go to any revolt. We went to take part in a decent protest, allowed by the US Constitution.

Who do you think were the real perpetrators of the violence?

There is no clarity on it yet. We saw them climb the wall, break a window and open the door from inside. From what we saw, we think they are well-trained people. Only trained people like military professionals can do that. They could be the Antifa BLM thugs supporting the Democratic Party who had sneaked into the rally.

Why they could not be controlled?

In the initial flow, some 50 people entered the building. They created all the problems. Then the police took control of it. We were all standing below and sloganeering and singing the national anthem. All the rallies for Trump are very happy events. This was the fifth rally I have attended. This is the first time such troubles occurred in a Trump rally. Investigations are on to find out who created it.

We firmly believe that the Antifa BLM people sneaked into our protest. Whatever has happened is unacceptable. It should not have happened. We can never support it because we have had to suffer all the damage it has caused. The validity of our case is gone with the incident.

What was the aim of your rally? What were your slogans?

Our slogan was 'Stop the steal'. Election fraud cannot be allowed anywhere. The US democracy may look great when you see it from outside. Several reporters from India asked me how could we say that there was fraud. Here you don't need a voter ID, there is no signature verification. Moreover, a voter doesn't even have to appear in person to vote. Fifty per cent of the votes this time were absentee ballots. We can prove all the ways of how fraud was committed here, but we need time. Investigations are needed. The cases were rejected without investigation.

Our aim is that America should have a president who was legally elected. I still believe that the current election was not legal. Do you think that one million people from different parts of the country would gather to support a man who failed in the election?

But even the Republican Party and its vice president Mike Pence is not supporting the protest.

The VP is doing his job. If Trump expected something more from him, that's wrong. Vice President's is a constitutional and ceremonial post. He did his job. However, he knows there was corruption. But it's not provable. In such situations, everybody will just move on. Trump is different. He is trying to fight and stop it. That's why we are thankful to trump.

So, only a faction of the Republican Party is at the protest front?

A total of 74 million people voted for Trump. Of them, 80 per cent believe that the election was stolen from Trump. They are the common people. I came here to study engineering and I work as an engineer. I'm also a political leader. For me what matters is what the people believe and the merit of it. My position is not important to me.

But now even Trump has conceded defeat!

If Trump had conceded on November 3 itself, these fraud and other issues would not have come out. That's why we are thankful to him. He stood firm to find out what went wrong. During the past two months, a lot of issues came out and that's important. Trump is above 74. He's not America's future. America should stand strong even after 1,000 years. Electoral fraud should not become a norm here.

Did the alleged fraud happen only this time?

This time its visible volume was very huge. Absentee ballots usually come below 10 per cent or less. This time it was over 50 per cent. Absentee ballots are an area where rampant corruption takes place.

Will you continue with the legal fight?

It's the responsibility of the Trump campaign to move forward legally. I believe they will. However, it's not known how long will the case go forward once the administration changes. We wanted a result before the administration change. We did not get it.

Were there many Indians at the protest?

We went there in a group and there were five Malayalis.

Why did you take the Indian tricolour to the protest?

Every time I went to Trump rallies, I have seen Americans coming from different countries bring their own flags to celebrate their origins. It's to highlight that it's not a racist movement. When I hold an Indian flag there, will I be allowed to walk free if it's a racist movement. This is the first time I took an Indian flag with me.

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