Armed protesters gathered outside the home of Michigan's Secretary of State to deny voting results
- About two dozen demonstrators gathered outside of the Detroit home of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Saturday, in a protest where they called the results of the 2020 election fraudulent.
- Benson said in a statement on Twitter that the protesters were armed, and video of the protest live-streamed on Facebook showed the group carrying signs that said "stop the steal."
- Police were called to the scene, but no one was arrested.
About two dozen protesters gathered in front of the home of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Saturday, in which they accused her of ignoring voter fraud in the presidential election.
Video of the protest at Benson's Detroit home was live-streamed on Facebook, in which people can be seen standing in front of her home, carrying American flags and signs that read "stop the steal."
Benson said in a statement on Twitter that the protesters were armed, and that she and her 4-year-old son were decorating their home for Christmas when the group approached, "shouting obscenities and chanting into bullhorns in the dark of night."
Michigan is among several battleground states Trump has targeted in his attempt to overturn November's presidential election. Since the election, Trump has experienced a series of courtroom setbacks in Michigan, and on Friday a Michigan Court of Appeals shut down an appeal filed by Trump's campaign that challenged the election results.
"They targeted me in my role as Michigan's Chief Election Officer. But the threats of those gathered weren't actually aimed at me - or any other elected officials in this state," Benson's statement on the protest said. "They were aimed at the voters."
Police responded to the protest just before 10 p.m., but no arrests were made, according to MLive.
Michigan officials criticized the protesters in a statement.
"They shouted baseless conspiracy theories about the election, and in videos uploaded to social media, at least one individual could be heard shouting 'you're murderers' within earshot of her child's bedroom," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement on Sunday. "This mob-like behavior is an affront to basic morality and decency."
They added that there are "many ways" to demonstrate in a civil society, and encouraged people to do so through "civil and democratic means."
"Terrorizing children and families at their own homes is not activism," they said. "This disturbing behavior masquerading as protest should be called out for what it is and roundly condemned by citizens and public officials alike."
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