A right-wing sheriff's group is setting up the stage for another Jan. 6 situation by denying election results and believing that the 2020 presidential elections were robbed from Donald Trump.
The influential network of conservative activists has fixated on the idea that the former president won the 2020 elections and is now working to recruit county sheriffs to investigate elections based on the false notion of voter fraud.
Right-Wing Sheriff's Group
On the other hand, Loudoun County Sheriff Michael L. Chapman was removed as a member of the Protect America Now organization. Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said in emails that while Chapman had a professional relationship with many of the sheriffs listed, he did not sign up as a member and did not understand why he was listed in the first place.
The removal of Chapman's name from the group's member list came after the Loudoun's Sheriff's Office was questioned about his support of the Protect America Now's goals. The group was founded after the 2020 presidential election by Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Lamb, as per the Loudoun Times.
Lamb believes in The Big Lie, where Democrats allegedly stole the election from the former president. This comes as the results of the election were both confirmed by national news outlets and certified by the federal government.
However, the Pinal County sheriff has spoken out in support of "stop the steal" efforts in Arizona and in support of the Jan. 6 rioters. As recently as last month, Lamb has made comments in televised speeches suggesting voter fraud was rampant in 2020.
According to MSNBC, the Protect America Now is joined by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association in promoting claims of voter fraud. While the situation does not yet constitute an emergency, it is deeply concerning because it is another sign of efforts from the far right to organize and mobilize to destroy the integrity of the electoral process.
Voter Fraud
Having powerful law enforcement officials banding together means that it could spiral well beyond a typical symbolic show of dissent. Three sheriffs affiliated with the groups from Michigan, Kansas, and Wisconsin have butted heads with election officials when they pursued investigations into 2020 election fraud.
This includes an effort to "charge state election officials with felonies for measures they took to facilitate safe voting in nursing homes during the pandemic." The groups are even hosting conferences, running television ads, and advocating for increased police presence at polling locations.
Furthermore, Protect America Now has partnered with conservative vote-monitoring Texas non-profit True the Vote, which has spread unsubstantiated and debunked voter fraud claims. This was done all in order to raise "$100,000 toward a goal of $1 million for grants to sheriffs for more video surveillance and a hotline to distribute citizen trips."
The clerk of Barry County, Michigan, Pam Palmer, said that he was "absolutely sick of it," referring to the investigation carried out by the groups, He noted that they did not do anything wrong during the election but argued that the groups have cast a cloud over the entire country that makes people doubt the accuracy of their ability to run an election, the New York Times reported.
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