'Storm the gates!' This 'Stop the Steal' Republican has been hired to recruit poll workers in Michigan

13 October 2022

In Michigan, MAGA activist and far-right conspiracy theorist Genevieve Peters has been a major promoter of the Big Lie — falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump and posing for photos with members of the Proud Boys. Peters was in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, telling a crowd of fellow Trump supporters, “We will storm the gates! We will storm the Capitol!” And in Macomb County, Michigan, Peters has, according to Politico reporter Heidi Przybyla, been hired as a “talent development specialist” who will recruit poll workers.

Przybyla, who has been a frequent quest on MSNBC, reports, “A social media influencer who implored a crowd to ‘storm the gates’ of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, has been hired by a Michigan county clerk as the ‘talent development specialist’ working with poll workers in one of the battleground state’s biggest swing regions, according to an e-mail obtained by Politico. The talent development official, Genevieve Peters, also joined armed members of the Proud Boys for a 2020 rally at the Michigan Capitol and live-streamed a ‘Stop the Steal’ protest outside the home of Michigan’s secretary of state.”

Przybyla adds, “She has made numerous social media posts of herself mingling with Proud Boys, including marching alongside its leader, Joe Biggs, according to social media postings by citizen journalists tracking extremists, including Chad Loder, whose work to identify January 6 participants has been cited in at least one Department of Justice charging document.”

Anthony Forlini, the Republican who serves as Macomb County clerk, told Politico that he knew that Peters took part in the pro-Trump demonstrations in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 but said that what she did “in her personal life” preceded her work in his office.

Forlini told Politico, “Genevieve is a part of looking at training procedures since most of her background is teaching and training…. The clerks are thankful we’re coming up with a better curriculum. We’re helping them recruit and train poll workers.”

Jake Rollow, a spokesman for Democratic Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, told Politico he is aware of Peters’ appointment to the Macomb County position and said that Benson’s office is keeping an eye on the situation and “the potential challenges that may arise from it.”

Przybyla reports, “That Peters is playing a pivotal role in Macomb’s elections office illustrates how successfully some Trump loyalists and election deniers have found their ways into official party and government roles. Macomb is Michigan’s third-most populated county. Before voting for Trump by wide margins in 2016 and 2020, Macomb had, for decades, served as a national barometer for the national political landscape.”

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