Local Trump supporters who attended rally in Washington say 'uplifting' message was overshadowed by violence

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some locals who attended President Donald Trump's rally Wednesday in Washington condemned the violence that took place at the nation's Capitol.

Christopher Culvert, a Nelson County native, said he attended the rally to have his voice heard and to call for a transparent look into the 2020 election.

“There are a lot of people out here that are asking for just one thing: transparently look at what happened (in the election)," he said.

Culvert said the majority of people in the crowd of nearly 500,000 people were peaceful the entire day, even when the crowd arrived at the Capitol following Trump's rally.

“They’re singing, they’re chanting, they’re praying,” Culvert recalled.

He said the violence that ensued inside the Capitol building was uncalled for and hurt the peaceful message of the rest of the group.

As a result of the protesters breaching the Capitol, one person was shot and killed inside.

"Those ridiculous actions basically take away the voice of hundreds of thousands of Americans who were there for a different reason,” Culvert said.

IMAGES | Pro-Trump rioters breach the US Capitol

Greensburg Mayor John Michael Shuffett was at the rally, too. He echoed Culvert's comments.

“It was a positive, overwhelmingly uplifting event in support of freedom and liberty and in support of our president,” he said of the majority of the Trump supporters in D.C. on Wednesday.

Shuffett said he was also there to call on Congress to take a closer, more transparent look into the election.

“It’s frustrating to see that the actions of a few circumvented what we experienced that day,” he said.

Both local Trump supporters believe the group's message was tarnished and overshadowed by the violence that culminated at the Capitol. Many people who were in D.C. and contacted WDRB News said that most people had no intentions of causing any violence or harm.

"Were there some Trump supporters that made it into the Capitol? Of course," Shuffett said. "We all saw that. There’s just a vast difference between what that event was intended to be and what it ultimately became.”

While what happened Wednesday in Washington will live forever in history, many hope that people will realize there were large groups of people there who had nothing to do with any form of violence.

“That’s not what we were there for," Culvert said. "That’s not what we support. I don’t condone it. I don’t support it.”