Their county attorney, R.B. Cell phone video captured the violence and chaos of that day. "And it's cost me everything - from a marriage, to finances, to friends.". My mom worked at Kmart and Lowes, my dad bagged groceries, he said. Copyright 2023 2nd Life Media AlamogordoTownNews.com. Clementss allegations extend to voting machines made by multiple companies, including Dominion Voting Systems, which are used in New Mexico and have been the target of false claims by Trump supporters. Couy Griffin Career Griffin was found taking active participation in the 2021 US Capitol riots and was arrested for the same on 8th January 2021. Couy Dale Griffin (born 1973) is a former politician who served from 2019 to 2022 as a county commissioner for District 2 of Otero County, New Mexico, which covers Tularosa, Three Rivers, La Luz, the western parts of Alamogordo, and the Mescalero Apache Reservation.In September 2022, Griffin was removed from office under the Disqualification Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United . Griffin: You know the drugs right now are horrible, the property crime is horrible, and theres two of you guys riding around citing people for no seatbelts?Officer: So, wed probably be doing the drug stuff if you were wearing your seatbelt.Griffin: Oh, really? Each played a role on Jan 6. Should Griffin be found guilty of the charge, he could be punished by a fine of up to $1,000 or by up to a year imprisonment, court records state. "It's been such a battle," he said. 1:07. The pickup was emblazoned with his Cowboys For Trump logo. Hes also been suspended from Facebook and banished from Native American lands in his district as he contests charges of breaking into the Capitol grounds and disrupting Congress that could carry a one-year sentence. Many of the comments predated the 2020 election and focused on the potential for foreign interference. Anti-vaxxers quickly embraced Clements, with far-right Colorado podcaster Joe Oltmann creating an online fundraiser for him and calling him a lightning rod of truth and courage. The appeal has since brought in more than $304,000 in donations, including from donors who say they support his election integrity crusade. He is awaiting trial. Under the first-look pact, Mortal Media will develop and produce a range of projects across film and television, in [] Alamogordo Proud! I totally take exception to the idea that Robyn Holmes our Republican clerk doesnt know what shes doing. The officers call Griffin. Couy Griffin will be featured on Wikipedia . Were in a contest of wills. But go ahead and do whatever you need to do.Officer: Yes, sir. "But the need for the audit isn't necessarily here in Otero County. The Otero controversy is far from over. In October, around the time he was fired from his university job, David and Erin Clements mailed a 261-page document to commissioners and county clerks across New Mexico alleging widespread issues with the voting systems what the congressional report called imaginary fraud.. I'm sure the NM State Police will send you a video of the notorious cowboy criminal being cuffed and perp-walked. Im a big boy. He has sent out a public plea in an attempt to win in the court of public opinion, by garnering a large showing of supporters, shoulder to shoulder to appear at the Otero County Courthouse. In fact, in Otero County he said they plan to conduct an election audit, looking for fraud. , Case dismissed for teen accused of taking gun to, Elderly man who killed sister takes plea deal, 2023 state basketball tournament brackets, Whats happening around New Mexico Feb. 24 Mar. Just this week, Griffins attorneys filed new motions on his behalf one demanding evidence and another claiming his charges are politically motivated. emergency order from the states Supreme Court. Couy Griffin, an Otero County commissioner and co-founder of Cowboys for Trump, answers a question from the prosecution Monday, Aug. 15, at the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe. Hed like to reinvent the sheriffs role as a brake on the governors power. Banned from Washington until testimony or trial, Griffin has returned to the routines of home in a tidy double-wide trailer in Tularosa, working most days as a stone mason. Couy Griffin Net Worth Couy Griffin has an estimated Net Worth of $1Million in 2022. and signed a child-support check to his ex-wife from his Cowboys for Trump account. They want to destroy our country, Griffin said in a video monologue. We was on Fox & Friends the next day.. Clements said in an interview that as an attorney he was eminently qualified to talk about the legalities surrounding voting machines, and that his wife, Erin, has two decades of expertise working with data as a civil engineer. Like others preaching the gospel of election fraud, Clements has attracted a large following online, where he mixes conspiracies with Christian nationalist and sometimes violent rhetoric. The Oath Keeper. Whenever you say, China stole the election. Griffin has acknowledged using the county building for promotional videos but said he never claimed they were . Griffin went to court over the seatbelt ticket where he was ordered to pay the $81 fine. 3 Mar. Clements ended on a mournful note just before the audience began trickling out into the quiet evening, the sun setting over fields of thirsty corn. They have a Son Together was born in 2014. Meanwhile, state prosecutors are investigating allegations Griffin used his office in coordination with Cowboys for Trump for personal financial gain, and signed a child-support check to his ex-wife from his Cowboys for Trump account. By March, volunteers organized by David and Erin Clements calling themselves the New Mexico Audit Force were going door to door in Otero County asking citizens about how they voted in 2020. In the end, the commissioners voted to sue the secretary of states office for forcing them to certify the primary results. If I was in your position I wouldnt be able to sleep at night, Griffin said to Holmes. The error was quickly corrected, but the damage was done. "What I'm trying to do through this audit," he said, "is I'd like to create a blueprint for other counties to be able to follow as well. The election was stolen from me, and then you just walk away? The former Disneyland rodeo cowboy once rode down New York's Sixth Avenue wearing the furs of bobcats and coyotes he trapped and skinned, brandishing an American flag. Couy Griffin and his horse grift America. A document that David Clements claims shows a failure to update voter check-in machines for 11 years is inaccurate, since the state uses a different check-in system, the secretary of states office said. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. He sees himself as governor one day. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said dozens of people have complained about volunteers associated with the audit going door-to-door and asking residents about their vote. Who is going to break whose will? Clements said. He was also one of three commissioners in Otero, a county of some . TULAROSA, N.M. He rodeoed in a Buffalo Bill-style Wild West show, carried his message on horseback from the Holy Land to Times Square and was invited to the White House to meet the president. Ct. Sept. 6, 2022) [hereinafter Griffin . They loved it, Harper said. Cowboys for Trump still owes the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office $7,800 in fines. He means no malice on anybody, said George Seeds, outside the New Heart Cowboy Church in Alamogordo where Griffin once served as pastor. The attorney general also received numerous citizen complaints about Griffin. Couy Griffin was wanted on an arrest warrant after storming the barricades of the Capitol Jan. 6, said authorities. I got a better idea. , VIDEO: Giant I-40 light poles sway in strong ABQ, Taxidermy birds used to make drones at New Mexico, PHOTOS: Storm leaves parts of state covered in snow, PHOTOS: Winter storm moves through NM leaving snow, PHOTOS: Storm causes snowy, icy roads across New, Map: New Mexico Veterans Monuments and Memorials, 13 Broadcast Pl SW, Albuquerque, NM, 87104, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The couple soon found an ally in Couy Griffin, a flamboyant former Disneyland Paris rodeo cowboy who until this week was a member of the county commission in Otero, a rural New Mexico community. In at least one case detailed in the affidavit, Griffin paid his ex-wife $350.00 from Cowboys for Trump LLC to cover his child support obligations. Griffin said David Clements knows what hes talking about and that he is the kind of expert Griffin wants to explain complicated voting systems to him, rather than the election officials in his own county. Griffin said hes been offered two plea deals, which he has turned down. Cowboys for Trump, or C4T as it is known colloquially, was ordered by the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office to file as a political action committee and file all campaign finance reports or face fines. For years, Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin has been Donald Trump's most flamboyant supporter in New Mexico, creating spectacles and controversy in equal measure. He sees. Griffin had recently been booted out of office following his conviction on federal charges for trespassing outside the Capitol building during the January 6 attack. Couy Griffin Wikipedia And Age. Couy Griffin Griffin, who was convicted of a federal misdemeanor in March for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, is representing himself in the lawsuit, which. Yeah. He was a rodeo cowboy at Disneyland Paris and a pastor at the Cowboy Church in Alamogordo. C4T still also has not filed as a political action committee. Badou Jack - The best fighter on the Fury-Paul card was Jack, a 39-year-old Swede who has had notable success in three divisions over the past 13-plus years. In Alamogordo, Griffins rhetoric on race has steeled the determination of opponents who want him out of office. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. 13h Heading to the courthouse to hear the verdict! In a conversation with The Associated Press, Griffin says he learned to love the spotlight during five years as an expert rodeo hand in a Wild West show at Paris Disneyland park. Hear their stories. Do you regret anything that happened? Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican we should all want to make sure our elections are secure.. At the meeting at the Nebraska senior center in early August, Clements appealed to his audience to get on social media and to keep showing up at county commission meetings, again and again, until local leaders are worn down and give in. Early in his life, he struggled with drugs, alcohol and an assault conviction, he has said. Both are extremely concerning and truly terrifying to say the least.. Otero County commissioners in July rejected Griffins request for taxpayer-funded legal representation in the lawsuit. Brittany Costello: Are you willing to share those? Why? he asked. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. In Washington, prosecutors unveiled photographs of Griffin climbing a toppled fence and another barrier to access the Capitol steps. With calls for an independent investigation of the Capitol siege blocked by Senate Republicans, Griffin is out on bail and speaking his mind. Im not asking you all to storm the beaches of Normandy, to suffer a bloody death to save our republic. The motion said Couy Griffin "has. Youre in the middle of elections that are fraudulent right now if what theyre telling us is true., If what theyre telling us is true, Holmes said, shouting, IF!. The New Mexico attorney general investigated embattled former Otero County Commissioner and Cowboys For Trump founder Couy Griffin for using C4T funds for personal use and taking official acts as commissioner for his personal gain. Colorado State slices up Lobos; UNM is a 6 To say that defense was optional would imply is was a choice. You can play on an old beat-out dirt lot.. He saw the sawmill's work as "curating" the forest. Brittany Costello: Do you personally have any of those videos? But in a recent interview in Alamogordo, Griffin was determined to keep fighting for Trump, despite the audit's problems, plus the charges he faces for his role in the Capitol attack, financial difficulties and a profound disappointment in the former president himself. "We would cut trees that had been blown over by the wind, we would cut trees that have been killed by forest fires," he said. In July. Their reports on election fraud are a jumble of conspiracy theories and full of errors. Couy Griffin is a white man from Tularosa, Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A New Mexico county commissioner who heads Cowboys for Trump was arrested Sunday in Washington, D.C., by Capitol Police after vowing to bring back his guns for Inauguration Day. The fanciful arguments of conspiracists obscure the countrys real need to continue to address election vulnerabilities, she said, such as internet voting 31 states and the District of Columbia allow it for overseas, military and in some places disabled voters as well as outdated paperless voting machines. The folksy origin story might have helped his successful 2018 run for county commissioner but once in office Griffin amplified violence and bigotry. Couy Griffin was founder of a group called Cowboys for Trump and a member of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. By MORGAN LEE February 28, 2023. The decision was made . So who is the leader here today? Swanson asked. But David and Erin Clements pressed on, appearing before the three-member, all-Republican Otero commission with a new target: the states June 7 primary. Their son was born in 2014. Public defense attorneys say a close reading of the law shows the area wasnt off limits. He sees. Griffin is one of thousands of Trump loyalists in public office who are charting an uncertain future ahead of the 2022 election cycle. No fewer than 86 judges rejected at least one post-election lawsuit filed by Trump or his supporters, a Washington Post review of court filings found. KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. You people are funny that claim I harass Mr Griffin. However, the page included a disclaimer that [a]ll monies will be a direct donation to founder Couy Griffin and will be used as Couy sees fit to move this organization forward.. His rides with Cowboys for Trump through numerous states were a reprise of proselytizing trips he made from Ireland to Jerusalem, before social media, to hand out the Gospel of John. He perpetuates the former president's false claim that the 2020 elections were fraudulent. Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes disagrees. Now, Clements has taken his message nationwide, traveling to small towns in more than a dozen states, with a focus, he said, on places that are forgotten and abandoned and overlooked. His crusade to prove that voting systems cant be trusted has deepened fears among election experts, who say his meritless claims could give Trump allies more fodder to try to disrupt elections in November and beyond. Id see other happy families on vacation while I would bus their tables as an underage kid and say, is this it, Lord? , But, he said he realized, God was preparing me for something, to see artifice, to see lies.. David Clements urged commissioners not to perform their statutory duty to certify the results, arguing that doing so would place them in legal jeopardy because of the problems they alleged with the machines. Because I want to make sure our voices are accurately captured. Griffin is presumed innocent until proven guilty. A New Mexico judge on Tuesday disqualified Couy Griffin, a county commissioner who founded Cowboys for Trump, from serving in public office ever again because of his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.. Driving the news: The judge ruled that Griffin is "barred for life" from serving as an elected official, effective immediately, under the 14th Amendment because he took part in the . This is a nonpartisan issue, Griffin said in an interview. They say Griffin didnt partake in violence and was well within his free speech rights as he voiced election grievances and attempted to lead a prayer with a bullhorn. The process, now underway, faces several challenges. The 14th Amendment bars from office anyone who once took an . Mr Griffin participated in a phone interview with Anthony Lucero on Alamogordo Town News radio edition on KALHRADIO.org 95.1 FM he explained the upcoming trail from his standpoint per a link at the end of this story. On September 6, 2022, Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was ordered removed from office by a New Mexico judge, as a result of his participation in the January 6th insurrection and attack on the Capitol. The motion said Couy Griffin "has. Pacing the room at the senior center in Neligh, microphone in hand, Clements put the matter in stark terms. As CPAC's 2023 edition kicks off, the man who greets the myriad right-wing activists and supporters descending on Maryland . Pecchia said his respect for Clements evaporated one day when he saw his former teacher leading an anti-mask march through a craft market where Pecchia sold his woodworking, causing a disturbance. FILE - Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump, takes in the view from his ranch in Tularosa, N.M., May 12, 2021. But this is also a man who beat a "Mom and Pop business" that has 5 kids out of thousands of dollars. It was a complete change. "And they're trying to spin routine election administration processes as somehow improper. Officer: Im going to issue a citation for the seatbelt. For two hours, Clements who has the rumpled look of an academic, though he lost his business school professors job last fall for refusing to wear a mask in class spoke of breached voting machines, voter roll manipulation and ballot stuffing that he falsely claims cost former president Donald Trump victory in 2020. FILE - Otero County, New Mexico Commissioner Couy Griffin speaks to reporters as he arrives at federal court in Washington, June 17, 2022. "I don't think there's any more productive way to spend tax dollars than to make sure our elections aren't compromised," he told an Otero County Commission meeting in January. This Otero County election review is part of a nationwide trend. He broadcast from the January 6, 2021 takeover of the US Capitol looking like the Cowboy Church pastor he used to be, in a tie and cowboy hat. The cowboy. 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