DETROIT – In testimony before Congress, Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey said she’s losing staff and living in fear because of false claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
She said the threats have gone as far as getting confronted while walking in her neighborhood.
Winfrey recently testified in Washington D.C. in front of a Congressional panel.
“I was invited to go before Congress to speak about the election process, to speak to those who are being threatened and harassed,” Winfrey said.
It’s a job Winfrey said has come with a lot of criticism, which she said she can handle. She said since the 2020 election, she and her staff have received death threats and harassment.
“I told them this is just like what happened to you all in January, but they’re coming to our homes,” she said.
It’s why she’s asking Congress for new laws to protect election workers.
Winfrey said the threats started during the presidential election vote counting process at the TCF Center in Detroit.
In front of Congress, Winfrey testified, “The greatest threat came to me when I was taking a walk, just to clear my mind. An unknown Caucasian male, approximately 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, approached me in my neighborhood. He stated ‘I’ve been waiting for you at work and decided to come to your house. Why did you cheat and why did you allow Trump to lose? You’re going to pay dearly for your actions.”
She also said earlier this year that Detroit police told her White supremacists were threatening her life and had to patrol her home for weeks.
“People were coming up to my staff as we were doing our jobs, dropping things off to TCF Center ... Just harassing them. So much so that we had to have police officers, armed police officers on guard,” said Winfrey.
The Justice Department and the FBI are launching a task force throughout the country to investigate and prosecute threats against election workers.
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