Last night the Great Falls Election Deniers hosted a large event with “Dr. Frank.” Frank is a well-known election denier who, along with his bff Mike Lindel (the My Pillow guy) is being sued for fraud. Frank continues to push the conspiracy theory that Trump won the 2020 election, a lie that has been disproven again and again in numerous court cases. Most recently, Rudy Giuliani lost two defamation cases for pushing lies about voter fraud.

Before Frank’s presentation, Sandra Merchant, Julie Bass, Jan WeNaas, Richard Wolke, and Mike Sheer met to discuss their plans for voting in Cascade County. They parroted Dr. Frank’s lies and expressed their intent to move to “Amish voting” which requires all paper ballots, no machinery whatsoever, and hand counting of said ballots within twenty-four hours. The idea that this group of conspiracy theorists could accurately tally tens of thousands of votes in a mere twenty-four hours would be laughable if the intent wasn’t so nefarious.

The event itself featured a “presentation” from Dr. Frank which was not only filled with falsehoods, but also encouraged violence. Throughout the presentation, Frank painted himself and the election deniers as righteous figures, using a “David and Goliath” analogy. Ironically, the Goliath they hope to overthrow is our Democracy. Amid calling for election deniers to “rise up” Frank gave a direct call to violence.  One slide read “What to do when antifa comes top your town” and the next slide showed a semi-automatic weapon. Frank went on to urge attendants not to call 911 or the sheriff’s office, but rather to grab their guns when confronted by peaceful protestors.

As an organizer of peaceful demonstrations outside of the elections office, I have serious concerns about the Clerk and Recorder and her staff promoting an extremist who literally suggests that they shoot us. This is overt voter intimidation with a clear intent to infringe upon our First Amendment rights to peaceful assembly. Sandra Merchant, Dev Biddick, and Julie Bass were all in attendance at this meeting, and not a single one spoke against Frank’s call to shoot voters who oppose them.

Sandra Merchant and her followers, many of whom are members of the Republican Pachyderm club, are but one group of extremists that are making Great Falls less safe for all of us. As I wrote about last week, the NeoNazi group White Lives Matter has blanketed our downtown with nazi propaganda. They, too, encourage violence against anyone who opposes them.  So, while many of us are locating and removing nazi stickers, our very own Clerk and Recorder is hosting gatherings calling for the murder of political opponents.

In a recent interview, Great Falls Senator Steve Fitzpatrick suggested that Democrats in Great Falls are simply too extreme. And yet it seems our Republican officials are the ones embracing violence.

So, tell me, voters, is this what you were hoping for when you elected Sandra Merchant?

If so, it’s time to update our welcome signs.

Welcome to Great Falls, where the Clerk and Recorder just might shoot you for trying to vote.

Around 100 people gathered to listen to election conspiracy lies.

Read about Giuliani’s recent loss here: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/30/1196875212/judge-finds-rudy-giuliani-liable-for-defamation-of-two-georgia-election-workers

Read a comprehensive overview of Frank’s presentation here: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/08/30/election-denier-douglas-frank-presents-conspiracies-in-great-falls-meets-with-elections-officer/

Read about the nazi vandalism here: https://wtf406.com/2023/08/neonazis-vandalize-downtown-great-falls/