A caravan of late-model extended-cab trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles flying American flags, Trump flags, and “Fuck Biden” flags made its way slowly down I-25 Saturday morning, numbers growing after each stop at various points between the Timnath Walmart, just south of Fort Collins, and DCF Guns in Colorado Springs.
The travelers were part of the “Never Surrender Rally” in support of former President Donald Trump, who was removed from Colorado’s primary ballot after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Trump ineligible for the presidency under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause.
“Within a couple of hours after the ruling, I told my friend Joe [Oltmann, owner of DCF Guns], this amazing patriot here, and I said, ‘Hey, we need to do something,’” said event organizer and Republican congressional candidate Trent Leisy. “This is wrong. We need to have a very peaceful, patriotic rally to show our support, of how much we love Trump and how much we really don’t like don’t like [Colorado Secretary of State] Jena Griswold, right? Two days after the ruling, Jena Griswold said the presidency shouldn’t be a [get-out-of-jail-free card] when it comes to engaging in insurrection. Well, you know what? She engaged in an insurrection. Her ass belongs in jail.”
The crowd of approximately 200 people gathered in front of DCF Guns responded by chanting, “Lock her up.”
Trump has appealed the ruling, and is currently back on the Colorado ballot, unless the U.S. Supreme Court declines to take the case or otherwise affirms the Colorado Supreme Court ruling.
“Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and was disqualified under the Constitution from the Colorado Ballot,” said Griswold in a Dec. 28 news release. “The Colorado Supreme Court got it right. This decision is now being appealed. I urge the U.S. Supreme Court to act quickly given the upcoming presidential primary election.”
Saturday’s rally featured speakers such as MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters, and Oltmann, whose disputed claims about an alleged “Antifa conference call” involving former Dominion Voting Systems executive Eric Coomer are central to conspiracies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
“Well, along came this guy Eric Coomer on that call, and he said, ‘Hey, don’t worry, Trump’s not going to win, I made sure of it,’” said Oltmann. “I happened to be on that call.”
Oltmann — along with his entities FEC United and Shuffling Madness Media, ultra-conservative pundit Michelle Malkin, James “Jim” Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, podcaster Eric Metaxas, One American News Network (OAN) and Chanel Rion, Sidney Powell and her organization Defending the Republic, Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani, and the Trump Campaign — were named as defendants in a 2021 defamation lawsuit filed by Coomer. OAN and Chanel Rion settled with Coomer in September 2023. The remaining defendants are waiting on a ruling on their motions to appeal the May 2022 denial of anti-SLAPP motions by Denver District Court Judge Marie Moses, who said Oltmann’s claims were “evasive and not credible,” and concluded that Oltmann’s “statements regarding that conference call are probably false.”
Oltmann’s claims are also central to additional defamation lawsuits filed by Coomer against Lindell, former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, and Oklahoma-based election conspiracy activist Clay Clark.
“On January 9th [2021], that’s when I was handed evidence that was 100 percent,” said Lindell. “It was by a guy named Dennis Montgomery, who worked with the CIA. They tried to bury all that. … Anyway, what it did for me is it solidified that this wasn’t all these people that did this illegally. It was done by computers. It was done by these voting machines. It was done with these systems that are in place where it just takes a few people to hit a few buttons, as your secretary of state knows very well.”
Montgomery is the originator of the “Hammer and Scorecard” conspiracy, and was also accused of fraud by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, was charged with felony theft charges for writing $1 million in bad checks to Caesar’s Palace casino in Las Vegas, and committed perjury in a 2009 civil case.
Multiple cybersecurity experts who have reviewed the material Lindell obtained from Montgomery have said it does not contain evidence of fraud.
In addition to the lawsuits brought by Coomer, Dominion has filed its own lawsuits against Lindell, Giuliani, Powell, and Byrne. In April, Fox News settled its lawsuit with Dominion for $787 million.
Unlike Lindell and Oltmann, Peters is facing criminal charges for her role in election equipment tampering and official misconduct, actions motivated at least in part by the election conspiracy claims of Lindell and Oltmann.
“What I’m being charged with — there’s seven felonies and three misdemeanors,” lamented Peters during a subdued speech to the DCF Guns crowd. “Each one of those felonies carries a mandatory three-year prison sentence and $500,000 fine.”
Peters ended her remarks by asking the audience for help. “Pray for me,” she said.
“Show up, donate, whatever you can do.”
Peters’ trial is set for Feb. 9, 2024.
Despite the multiple defamation lawsuits and complete lack of evidence of election fraud, claims of election conspiracies continue to be a Republican talking point. Attending Saturday’s rally was Republican House District 16 candidate Rebecca Keltie.
“I believe that there was some collusion that went on within the [2020] election,” she said. “I only say that because I went door-to-door, and I talked to people, and I met people who got double ballots, triple ballots, four or five ballots. I asked them, ‘What did you do with those ballots?’ I was just an observer, but they all had different answers. Do I think things happened? I do. Do I think was it completely stolen? And, you know, I don’t know, but I think it’ll come out in the pudding.”
