Headlining the election fraud conspiracy rally at the state Capitol today, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell gave the crowd what it wanted, but only after he was served with something he probably doesn’t want: another lawsuit, this one from former Dominion employee Eric Coomer, who filed his own defamation lawsuit against Lindell, who has publicly accused him of crimes. The latest lawsuit, which was filed last night and also targets Lindell’s companies, is separate from an ongoing $1.3 billion lawsuit brought by the voting machine company itself last year.
Undeterred by this new legal challenge, the exuberant Lindell nevertheless delivered his speech to the approximately 250 people gathered at the west steps of the Capitol this afternoon to hear him and a host of election conspiracist candidates speak what they believe to be “the truth” of the 2020 election: the debunked claim that it was stolen from President Trump by Democrats, Dominion Voting Systems, and China.
“We were attacked! And when you say, ‘who is they?’ It’s not just the Democrat Party, this was the CCP [Chinese Communist Party],” said Lindell. “Most of the cyberattacks came out of China. Ninety-one percent of them came out of two buildings in China. And they came in, it was set up with some of the Democrats and some of the Republicans. This was set up! They did all of your voting for you. And we will lose our country forever!”
Mesa Clerk Tina Peters, who is running to be the Republican nominee for Colorado secretary of state, drew the most cheers behind Lindell. Peters is facing numerous felony and misdemeanor charges, all of which Lindell rejects as “a joke,” and he had no concerns about when he endorsed her. Lindell also claims that law enforcement offered Peters a deal in which they wouldn’t charge her if she stopped talking publicly about election fraud.
“They came to Tina in September and said, ‘If you don’t talk about this, we won’t do anything,'” said Lindell. “It’s all blackmail. I compare it to the Mafia. Bashing people’s doors in that didn’t do anything but their job. Those charges are a joke.”
Peters expanded on the election conspiracy claims by telling the crowd that not only was the 2020 presidential election rigged, but also last year’s city council election in her hometown of Grand Junction.
Other featured speakers included state Rep. Ron Hanks (R-Cañon City), who is running for U.S. Senate, and conspiracist activist Sherrona Bishop who is managing Peters’ campaign and previously ran Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s 2020 campaign.
Reps Richard Holtorf (R-Akron), Dave Williams (R-Colorado Springs), and Mark Baisley (R-Roxborough Park) also spoke along with a handful of other conservative activists. Williams is primarying Congressman Doug Lamborn in Colorado Springs and Baisley is running for state senate.
Attendees displayed signs and clothing in support of other conspiracies relating to QAnon, COVID public health restrictions, and anti-vaccine claims.
United American Defense Force, the militia division of election conspiracy group FEC United, provided security for the event. UADF founder John “Tig” Tiegen, who was wearing a UADF shirt over what appeared to be body armor, told the Colorado Times Recorder that UADF had both uniformed and plainclothes members in the crowd.
FEC United founder Joe Oltmann was also in attendance, as were several members of another election fraud conspiracy group, U.S. Election Integrity Plan, some of whom Lindell has hired for Cause of America, his national version of their group.
