A chaotic incident last month in Arizona has been held up as a harbinger of violent activity related to November's election.
Supporters of Donald Trump descended on a board of supervisors meeting Feb. 28 in Maricopa County, where they forced their way to the rostrum and refused to leave in a protest of the former president's election loss, reported the Washington Post.
“I’m here today to put you on public notice and to inform you that you are not our elected officials,” said Michelle Klann, co-founder of a pro-Trump group. “This is an act of insurrection. Due to all the voter fraud, you have never been formally voted in.”
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Trump narrowly lost Arizona in 2020 by just 10,457 votes out of nearly 3.4 million cast, and the recent incident raises concerns that the former president's supporters will target election officials with threats and abuse.
“This was an organized, coordinated attack,” said one top county official. “It was a dress rehearsal for the election.”
The board of supervisors, most of whom are Republicans, has been harassed and threatened by Trump supporters for refusing to go along with the ex-president's attempts to overturn his loss in the state, but the menacing tone at last month's meeting reminded some attendees of the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“There are people who have believed those messages — as false as they are — and are believing that they need to take action,” said Tammy Patrick, the chief executive for programs at the National Association of Election Officials.
Speakers interested in publicly addressing the board of supervisors must now be escorted by security personnel after the outburst by Klann and other members of her group, The Peoples Operation Restoration, whose website shows Trump dressed in Revolutionary War-era clothing and riding a horse.
Group members have been delivering paperwork to Maricopa County official meetings and government offices claiming their leaders are illegitimate and accusing them of breaking the law.
“We’d like them replaced,” said Brenda Ireton, a pro-Trump Republican who said the board of supervisors was "corrupt" and had been "bought and paid for" by unknown interests.
The disruption began as the meeting entered a period set aside for public comment, and group members became unruly when they were not allowed to speak because they had missed the deadline to submit paperwork asking to address the meeting.
"You're an insurrectionist," one woman shouted.
The board chair warned those who were disruptive that they would be removed if they kept shouting, saying they must follow the rules, and board members have moved to improve security at future meetings in anticipation of more disruption.
“In a year filled with what’s expected to be difficult meetings, it’s important to be able to maintain control," said supervisor Bill Gates, a Republican who has been the target of vicious attacks by Trump supporters.
