- Two poll workers were removed from their duties in Georgia's largest county on Tuesday.
- Facebook posts surfaced showing the poll workers at the deadly January 6 riot at the US Capitol.
Two Georgia poll workers in Fulton County were removed from their duties on Tuesday after Facebook posts were discovered showing them at the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, the Washington Post reported.
The poll workers, a mother and son, were removed shortly before voting started.
One of the Facebook posts shared with the Post echoed former President Donald Trump's false claims about the 2020 election. The post said: "I stood up for what's right today in Washington DC. This election was a sham. Mike Pence is a traitor. I was tear gassed FOUR times. I have pepper spray in my throat. I stormed the Capitol building. And my children have had the best learning experience of their lives."
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer in the office of the Georgia Secretary of State, confirmed to CNN that the poll workers were removed.
"I am aware that it occurred. That really is a Fulton County internal issue. They have to mitigate the risk the way they see fit given that information," Sterling said, adding, "I think it would have been better if they found out earlier potentially and worked with the people, but since it was so last minute and it came to light so late, I leave it to Fulton County. But yes, that did happen earlier this morning."
Nadine Williams, Fulton County's director of registration and elections, said on Tuesday that the Facebook posts were under investigation.
Fulton County, which is the state's largest county, has been at the center of an ongoing probe into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Georgia was key to President Joe Biden's victory in 2020. Two days before the fatal January 6 attack, Trump called Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger and urged him to "find" thousands of additional votes to help overturn his loss in the state.
Trump and his GOP allies have continued to spread false and misleading information about elections in the US, prompting fears of violence surrounding the midterms.
Shannon Hiller, the head of the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University, told Insider that she's confident US elections will remain safe and secure. But Hiller also added, "What I'm more concerned about is the post-election period, when these persistent, unfounded claims of election fraud and calls for violence could intersect to spur individuals to violent action."