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“I’m here today to let you all know publicly that you are not our elected officials,” said Michelle, co-founder of the pro-Trump group.・Mr. Klan spoke from the captured podium. “This is an act of sedition. Because of voter fraud, you have never been officially voted.”
The scene at the Feb. 28 rally horrified many Maricopa officials and others, recalling what happened after Joe Biden won the county, and with it Arizona, in the 2020 presidential election. . At that time, Trump supporters are using baseless claims of fraud to try to pressure and intimidate elected leaders into changing election results in metropolitan Phoenix County, home to more than half of Arizona’s residents. did.
Now, with another presidential election on the horizon and Arizona likely once again at the center of Donald Trump’s campaign strategy, the incident late last month has led to Maricopa County elections officials There are renewed fears that they will be targeted with threats and abuse, or worse. .
“This was an organized and systematic attack,” said one county executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues. “It was an election rehearsal.”
Since the 2020 vote; Maricopa supervisors, most of them Republicans, faced relentless public ridicule, conspiracy theories and death threats for certifying the results and refusing to cooperate with President Trump’s efforts to overturn them. have faced.
Mr. Trump narrowly lost the state by just 10,457 votes out of about 3.4 million cast, putting the state’s most important battleground county at the center of a national effort to undermine confidence in elections.
Arizona voters in 2022 narrowly defeated Republican candidates for governor and other statewide offices who made election denialism a central part of their campaigns. The issue remains a major driver for the state’s Republican Party, with Republican lawmakers even attempting to dissolve Maricopa County in a move widely seen as retaliation for its role in Trump’s defeat. .
Maricopa supervisors are used to crowds heckling and belittling Maricopa at public meetings, a tactic that has been played out across the country from California to Texas since the 2020 vote. . In response to the escalating chaos, Maricopa officials have recently become more aggressive in removing unruly participants and ending sessions early to avoid virus-related confrontations.
But the chaotic end to last month’s meeting presented a new level of threat for some — reminiscent of the atmosphere before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — and supported Trump. It showed that the people were willing to go to any lengths to interfere. Public procedure. Although Trump’s claims of wrongdoing have long been debunked, his most ardent supporters remain unconvinced.
“There are people who believe these messages and believe that even though they are false, we need to take action,” said Tammy Patrick, chief program officer at the National Association of Election Officials.
In the case of last month’s meeting, the actions taken ended peacefully. Outnumbered, county security staff waited as sheriff’s deputies calmly directed the crowd of about 20 people. No arrests were made.
Before the board met again in public last Wednesday, supervisors rehearsed an emergency evacuation drill, said the person, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to discuss safety measures publicly.
Video cameras were installed in the chamber, and about a dozen uniformed and undercover law enforcement officers and security guards monitored the meeting. Sheriff’s deputies were huddled outside, away from public view, with SWAT team members present as needed. The board sealed off the row of seats closest to the podium and required speakers to be accompanied to the microphone during the public comment period.
The most popular part of the meeting, the Pet Showcase to help match homeless dogs with new owners, was held virtually to reduce in-house activity and keep employees safe.
“Please understand that this is not only being done to keep us safe, but to keep you safe as well,” board chairman Jack Sellers (R) told the audience about the new safety measures. .
Outside the meeting, Klan and others claimed without evidence that the county commission was not a constituent of Maricopa County and represented foreign interests. Mr. Klan declined to answer questions.
The crowd that confronted county leaders on Feb. 28 included The Klan co-founded a new Arizona-based rebel group called The People’s Operation Restoration. The group’s website features a drawing of Trump dressed as a Founding Father and riding a horse.
Supporters cite false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and challenge the legitimacy of U.S. laws and institutions. They have been showing up at meetings and offices in Maricopa in recent weeks, filing documents that falsely claim leaders are illegal and violating the law.
Katie McCarthy, an investigative researcher at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, said Klan and his supporters have taken similar action against school boards across the country involved in pandemic-era public health measures. It is said to have attracted attention. She said this strategy functions as a “harassing intimidation tactic” and is currently being reflected in the election denial movement in Arizona.
Some of the group gathered outside the chamber Wednesday said they did not recognize the authority of county supervisors because they did not believe in the 2020 election results. The two met in metro Phoenix in 2020, when they scrutinized 1.1 million ballots and confirmed Biden’s victory.
Brenda Ireton, a Trump supporter and Republican, said she viewed the board as “corrupt” and “bought and paid” by unknown interests. “We want them removed. ” he said.
Inside the chamber, the board quickly considered the agenda.pro-Trump activists Attendees entered the meeting about 15 minutes after it began, with at least one livestreaming on a phone and another carrying professional camera equipment. When the meeting entered a public comment period, groups began loudly complaining that they were not allowed to speak. They missed the deadline (10 minutes after the start of the meeting) to submit documents for this purpose.
Near the end of the meeting, as supervisors talked about community events in the district, yelling began. Supervisor Thomas Galvin (R) thanked the officers in the room for their protection.
“You’re an insurrectionist,” the woman jeered.
Galvin retorted, “Your performance is remarkable.” He said the chairman of the board intervened and warned those disrupting the meeting that if they continued to shout, they would be removed.
“Every two weeks we try to do this here,” Galvin told attendees. “This is the people’s business. We represent her 4.5 million people in this county. We can’t control what people hear.”
Amid another tough election season, county leaders drafted rules for public meetings as a way to enforce civility and repercussions for those who disrupt commission work, according to three people familiar with the discussions. It is said that it is clear that Counties will need to vote on the proposed rules before they go into effect, likely within the next two months.
This rule could be critical to the board’s ability to perform its duties, including certifying election results. Supervisor Bill Gates (R) declined to discuss the proposed rules, but said he would balance First Amendment rights with the board’s efforts to conduct business without interruption. He said he is grateful for the behind-the-scenes efforts of the chairman of the board.
Gates, who has been the target of particularly intense attacks, said: “In a year that promises to be difficult, it’s important to be able to maintain control.”
Ucero reported from Washington.
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