Trump supporters defiant during Colorado Springs protest

A large crowd gathered in downtown Colorado Springs on Saturday to display support for President Donald Trump and listen to speakers shortly after Trump’s Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, emerged as the winner of the Nov. 3 election.

Members of the crowd, which numbered roughly 500, expressed agreement with speakers who suggested that the election was fraudulent and that Trump could actually be the rightful victor.

“We need to raise hell!” said one of the speakers, Michelle Malkin, a Colorado Springs resident who is a nationally-known conservative commentator and activist. “We don’t just roll over when people cheat and lie and steal.”

Michelle Malkin on the steps of Colorado Springs city hall today for “Stop the Steal” protest in support of Trump: “Fight back … We need to raise hell … We don’t just roll over when people cheat and lie and steal.” pic.twitter.com/V6fQNVJnov

— Quentin Young (@qpyoungnews) November 7, 2020

The event was organized as a “Stop the Steal” protest by activist group FEC United. It took place, after a vehicle procession from Cabela’s in Lone Tree, at the Colorado Springs City Hall. Participants waved Trump flags, “Don’t tread on me” flags and American flags, and displayed other signs of their support for Trump.

In promoting the event on Parler, John Tiegen, a Trump surrogate in Colorado and founder of patriot group United American Defense Force, which is aligned with FEC United, wrote, “We are standing in opposition to the cheating and outright corruption by the Democratic party in their attempt to steal the election and the US Presidency!”

Tiegen organized the “Patriot Muster” on Oct. 10 in Denver that ended with an attendee’s fatal shooting. In speaking to the Colorado Springs crowd, Tiegen rejected any notion that he or supporters promote violence.

“Seems to me like the Biden ones are actually the aggressors, the attackers,” he told the crowd. “They’re the ones destroying Denver right now, they’re the ones who came to Colorado Springs to destroy Colorado Springs. I didn’t see any of you guys out there destroying it. I didn’t see any members of UADF destroying it. I haven’t seen one militia group destroy s***.”

“The election’s not the end of the battle, that’s just the start of the battle,” Tiegen continued. “We’ve got to keep defending this country from the liberals, from the communists, from the Marxists that have gained a foothold in this country.”

He blamed the “liberal media” for supporting the BLM movement and antifa and for pushing a narrative that Trump supporters promote violence. 

In an interview with Newsline, Malkin said the media “coronated Joe Biden.”

“They’ve shaped narratives of Biden as the presumptive and undisputed winner even while ballots have not been counted yet, even while there are contested jurisdictions in all of these battleground states, even while lawsuits have barely begun,” she said.

She cited for particular concern a GOP challenge in Michigan regarding election software. The clerk in Antrim County reportedly failed to update software in a ballot tabulator, which led to initial release of erroneous results. Malkin also referred to legal challenges in Pennsylvania as worth pursuing.

“All of these are live issues, and there are core constitutional issues involved,” Malkin said.

National news outlets have found no evidence of widespread fraud or errors related to election results.

She admonished “establishment Republicans who are either dismissing the idea that there is voter fraud … or the ones who are already planning ahead for a Biden administration and who are more concerned with their own political viability than the viability of our country.”

Malkin puts Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in this category, Malkin said, and she had a message for him: “Shut up, Mitch McConnell.”

The grassroots of the conservative movement is as much about opposing elite, establishment Republicans as Democrats, Malkin said. “That’s what Trump has had to combat, not just the left but many of the enemies, the snakes, some of them operating within his own White House,” she said.

The “Stop the Steal” protest spilled along the sidewalks and median of North Nevada Avenue in front of City Hall. A counterprotest of less than a dozen people took place across the street.