A right-wing sheriffs’ group that challenges federal law held a bizarre rally in Las Vegas last week featuring felons and conspiracy theorists as the country’s presidential election is just months away.
The right-wing ‘constitutional sheriffs,’ claim legal power in their jurisdictions that exceeds U.S. federal government and state authorities.
In particular, this time around, the organization is urging its members to seize voting machines while investigating claims of ‘rampant voter fraud’ that during the 2020 election proved to be baseless.
In 2022, the group continued to promote baseless conspiracy theories that the last presidential election was stolen from Trump are have recently been pushing a dubious theory that county sheriffs can access voting machines and intervene in how elections are run – and also have virtually unchecked power in their counties.
Voting-rights advocates and election experts said any attempts by law enforcement to interfere in elections would be alarming and an extension of the threat posed by the continued circulation of Trump’s claims about the 2020 election.