Sharon Sullivan
July 15, 2024
MyPillow founder and election denier Mike Lindell was a surprise guest at a movie screening of Let My People Go, held July 12, at Orchard Mesa Baptist Church in Grand Junction. The film stars David Clements, a former lawyer and fired New Mexico State University professor, who now makes a living as an election denier.
Both Lindell and Douglas County resident Joe Oltmann – founder of the right-wing activist group FEC (Faith, education and commerce) United, and host of the “Conservative Daily” podcast spoke after the film screening.
Approximately 50 people came out despite triple-digit temperatures to watch the two-and-a-half-hour movie, described by journalist James O’Rourke, as “a barely-coherent potpourri of conspiracies.” The film refers to Americans as being enslaved, and far-right activists as “abolitionists.” Biblical verses are cited throughout the film, and during the speeches that followed.
Notably absent from the event was former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who is under home confinement and wearing an ankle monitor, after Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubenstein filed a motion to lift a stay pending appeals to her conviction. Peters was found guilty last year of a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of government operations.
Lindell has been a major financial supporter of Peters, who faces more serious charges at a trial set to start in late July, regarding a security breach in the elections office she was overseeing at the time. She faces 10 criminal charges (seven felonies and three misdemeanors) for her actions in that case.
Before Oltmann and Lindell spoke, Olathe resident Barb Hulet, who helped organize the event, told the audience: “We need all of you that may be called as a juror in this county to support Tina Peters,” she said.
Oltmann has alluded to political violence on several occasions and he did so again at Friday evening’s event at the church.
“I’m really mad,” Oltmann told the audience. “I want to lash out; I’m at that place where I want to hurt somebody. I know I shouldn’t. But we’re tired. We’re living in a place of institutional slavery.”
“Prior to 2020 I wanted nothing to do with politics. No one accused me of extreme for anything. Then 2020 happened. I lost friends. I watched the COVID vaccine take away people I loved. Our problem is not just with the machines, it’s (having to negotiate with people we know are evil.”
Joe Oltmann speaking in Grand Junction. Photo: Sharon Sullivan
Claims that the machine tabulators are less secure and less accurate than hand counting votes has been debunked.
Oltmann acknowledged that he angered people when he said that Biden should be charged with treason and face the punishment – including death.
“I’ve got news for you,” he said. “They’re going to steal the election in November.”
“Let’s go get our guns; we have to have a target. The time is coming when good people will have to do bad things to bad people. There’s a sacrifice to be made.”
Oltmann said he would be willing to be executed to get rid of the mail-in ballot. “I’m sorry if being real with you is painful,” he said.
“I don’t like people; but I like you people,” he told the group, before adding that he starts the day with prayer. “Every morning I have to make the decision to keep fighting. Prayer is the first thing that I go to.”
What we have to do every day is pray, and stand up,” he said. “The battlefield is no longer overseas. The fight is in our country.”
When asked who he supports running for office in Colorado, Oltmann replied, “Lauren Boebert – she’s a known commodity. She has an A-plus score when it comes to conservative values.” He added he would be putting together a list of other endorsements during one of his upcoming programs.
Following Oltmann’s speech, Lindell spoke where he attacked so-called “uniparty” Republicans – “a term that disparagingly links supposedly apostate Republicans to Democrats across the aisle,” according to ABC News. “It’s not Democrats we’re up against, he said. “My biggest blockers are uniparty Republicans,” he said. Uniparty Republicans are horrible people.”
During his talk Lindell referred to the COVID-19 coronavirus as the “China virus,” a racist term often used by Trump that has led to discrimination and violence against Asian-Americans. And, like Trump, Lindell referred to many people, including Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, as “crooked.” Raffensperger angered Trump and his followers when he refused to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Toward the end of his talk, Lindell referenced a Bible verse that urged people to “put on God’s armor to stand firm against the devil, evil rulers, and authorities.”
The Orchard Mesa Baptist Church agreed to host the event after organizers were turned away by three other venues, said Greg Kuhn, who opened the event with a welcome and prayer. The event was promoted on Facebook by a local far-right group Stand for the Constitution.
Sharon Sullivan is a Grand Junction-based freelance writer and editor. She writes for several regional publications and nonprofit organizations.
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