The pickup was emblazoned with his Cowboys For Trump logo. Trump won there in 2020 with 73% of the vote. Griffin still wears a monogrammed Cowboys for Trump shirt to commission meetings. Im a big boy. For all his bombast and showmanship, Griffin's fortunes and conviction seem to be waning. The two-day trial began Tuesday with jury selection in state District Court at Alamogordo, the . 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. Officer: Youre free to go. I do worry about potential violence toward election officials, in particular around the upcoming general election, she said. The audience, which included a local minister, a bank teller and farmers in their overalls, gasped in horror or whispered wow with each new claim. I could also be in jeopardy of having my pretrial release affected from January 6th that could result in me being transferred back to the DC Gulag in Washington DC. You know, and if we do, then its gonna be a sad day, because theres gonna be blood running out of that building." 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. Everette Brown, a Marine veteran and information technology specialist at Holloman Air Force Base who is Black, said that comment shows politics have changed Griffin, whom he once respected. The motion said Couy Griffin "has. Their reports on election fraud are a jumble of conspiracy theories and full of errors. Kourtnie served in the US military and is a war Veteran. I was to the point that, You guys arent even telling half-truths anymore,' she recalled. 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 has attracted the interest of nationally known constitutional scholars and attorneys. It was a complete change. "It's not like I'm trying to overturn an election that we lost," he said. Hes part of a smaller cadre who flirted with insurrection on Trumps behalf and may still pay a high price. "It's been such a battle," he said. 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. Alamogordo High School Alamogordo Proud Breaking Stereotypes and Winning in Welding Competition, Alamogordo was the only team to be represented with female welders. Couy Griffin was wanted on an arrest warrant after storming the barricades of the Capitol Jan. 6, said authorities. Because the rule of law needs to exist.. Because I want to make sure our voices are accurately captured. Mr Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump, said in an interview with journalist Mr Griffin that he believed both Sicknick and Ashli Babbitt are still alive. 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. He was a rodeo cowboy at Disneyland Paris and a pastor at the Cowboy Church in Alamogordo. Pecchia wrote a recommendation letter for Clements for a teaching award that recognizes excellence in pre-tenure professors. She said in an online press conference that she feared, "a scenario where the tabulators would instantly become, you know, questionable, and we would have to completely take them out of serviceIt's just a really scary, unfortunate and nonsensical situation. Their son was born in 2014. Griffin's term as county commissioner is up this year, and he has said he will not run again. Otero County Commission Chairman and Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin rides his horse on 5th avenue on May 1, 2020 in New York City. Griffin is scheduled on Monday and Tuesday for a trial without a jury before 1st Judicial District Judge Francis Mathew in Santa Fe. 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. 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. He asked me to cover the prayer vigil we were the only press to do so and his attorney was happy with the coverage as was he and moved to tears. As news of the attack came, he was in his cabin in the mountains of New Mexico with his wife and three young children. Email addresses are used solely for verification and to speed the verification process for repeat questioners. Since then, Griffin has led an itinerant life. Brittany Costello: Do you personally have any of those videos? Here you have Couy Griffin as Cowboys For Trump not only hiding assets from his ex-wife and son. Griffin, who was once thanked by Trump for saying The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat and who was convicted of a misdemeanor for entering a restricted area during the Capitol riot, has long alleged the 2020 presidential election was stolen. 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. Yeah.Officer: So if you want to waste our time here.. After the officer hands him the ticket, Griffin still gets in a parting shot. 1:07. Maggie Toulouse Oliver v Couy Griffin, Near mistrial results in not guilty verdict, Alamogordo Proud Flickinger Center Hosts Local Students to LP And The Vinyl, Alamogordo Proud local students take in the arts for free at Flickinger, Minor School Accident Bus #108 Tuesday NO Injuries, Maggie Toulouse Oliver v Couy Griffin Campaign Finance Violations Trial Day One Recap. He yearns to someday run for governor even though state GOP leaders are openly scornful and Democrats hold every statewide elected office. Griffin has been rebuked by some Republicans over his racial invective. EXCLUSIVE: Blake Griffin and Ryan Kalil are getting into business with Sony Pictures Entertainment. I totally take exception to the idea that Robyn Holmes our Republican clerk doesnt know what shes doing. De-extinction is a, Roundhouse Roundup: Paramilitary rules, youth parole, Rio Bravo Park cleanup will take longer than expected, Gun safety bill passes Senate, faces one more hurdle, Restaurants still struggling to recover from COVID, Roswell PD: Woman steals, drives wrong-way to get, More from KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos, State basketball tournament: Girls first round recap, BCSO: Kids were living in dirty home containing drugs, Local casino hosts National Fiery Foods & BBQ Show, UNM police arrest man for giving false ID, fleeing, Man connected to political shootings to stay behind, Whats happening around New Mexico Mar. As per the sources, He was married to him for a long time and got divorced in 2019. My vote to remain a no isnt based on any evidence, its not based on any facts, its only based on my gut feeling and my own intuition, and thats all I need, Griffin said, his drawl tinny on the speakerphone. The trail will begin Tuesday on New York Avenue Alamogordo after jury selection expected to be completed on Monday. Mr Griffin appears to be setting the stage of this court case with home court advantage. Trumps election defeat has left the 47-year-old father in a lonely fight for his political life after preaching to crowds at the U.S. Capitol siege, promising to take his guns to Bidens inauguration and landing in jail for over a week. Theyre going find out he didnt have anything to do with these types of things, he said. I said, God save us, please, please save our country, he recalled in a speech in Michigan last year. 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. (Those findings were comprehensively rejected by the Maricopa County Elections Department.). Hear their stories. A disdain for central government set in early, when conservation laws affected the family business. Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin confronted a trial by jury on Tuesday on charges that he failed to register a political organisation without filing related public financial disclosures. "Cowboys for Trump" co-founder Couy Griffin speaks to reporters as he arrives at federal court in Washington on June 17, 2022. . The motion said Couy Griffin "has. "I was raised in the shadow of a great man," he said. 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. 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. Its about the money, and this week in Otero County, New Mexico a jury will decide. Brittany Costello: A number of people are facing charges, including you. The ruling comes after lawyers for Griffin's ex-wife, Kourtnie, filed an emergency motion in May to modify their custody and visitation agreement. He says his obsession with politics has taken a toll, contributing to his 2019 divorce and tensions with relatives. Later, he served as the vice chair for legal affairs of the states Libertarian party. Dozens of Albuquerque Academy students volunteered to help unload and deliver the furnishings, Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer. I take the seatbelts very serious just because the amount of crashes weve both seen.Griffin: What is it? ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Couy Griffin, Cowboys for Trump founder and Otero County commissioner, was arrested last year for his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Defiance of federal government and its oversight of public lands are staples of politics in Otero County, which spans an area three times the size of Delaware, from the dunes of White Sands National Park to the peaks of the Lincoln National Forest. I have done my best to shield and protect anyone who has supported me from the same attacks that I daily come under. Thanks for contacting us. Holmes said this is baseless and runs the risk of eroding trust in democratic systems. Both are extremely concerning and truly terrifying to say the least.. The 14th Amendment bars from office anyone who once took an . Gun safe storage bill inches closer to governor's desk Republicans express concern over high-profile measure Republicans express concern over high-profile measure during Fridays two-hour debate. , 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. Donnie Reynolds, a 51-year-old sales associate at an Alamogordo hardware store, says Griffin is being targeted for ties to Trump. Alice Fordham joined the news team in 2022 after a career as an international correspondent, reporting for NPR from the Middle East and later Latin America and Europe. Nichols, advised that the frivolous lawsuit would not pass muster in court and would cost the county more than $100,000. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. A New Mexico state judge on Thursday ordered convicted Capitol rioter Couy Griffin to be removed from his county commissioner seat, ruling that the Cowboys for Trump founder's involvement in the . US District Judge Trevor McFadden heard one day of testimony without a jury on Monday before handing down a verdict in the misdemeanor case against Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, a. "But the need for the audit isn't necessarily here in Otero County. Clements says he is not paid for his appearances but asks for donations for travel expenses at the door. Otero County commissioners in July rejected Griffins request for taxpayer-funded legal representation in the lawsuit. And if we dont fix our country, I cant go back to that world.. Couy Griffin confronts DuBois over appointment, derails meeting; Couy Griffin removed from Otero County Commission, barred from holding any future office emergency order from the states Supreme Court. He is a pastor, a Republican and the son of a former commissioner in Catron County, New Mexico. Guitarist Ottmar Liebert bringing his unique blend of music Ottmar Liebert and his band Luna Negra will perform with the New Mexico Philharmonic at Popejoy Hall on Saturday, March 11. David and Erin Clements claimed that the states voting tabulators are insecure and miscount votes. Any person with disabilities who needs help accessing the content of the FCC Public File may contact KOB via our online formor call 505-243-4411. . Griffin had previously sued Toulouse Oliver claiming he was not required to register or file as a political committee. The Otero controversy is far from over. Griffin said he is confident the judge will dismiss the lawsuit. Contact Senator Griggs and Burton for Yes. Their additional three locations remain open. John Block voted against job creation. He said he began examining the alleged evidence of fraud in contested states like Georgia and Pennsylvania in the days following the election, and later had some of those who claimed to have observed it firsthand appear on his YouTube videos. "On the afternoon of January 17, 2021, the U.S. Capitol Police notified the FBI that they had detained Couy Griffin of New Mexico, who was the subject of an arrest warrant for his role in the . Its probably why New Mexico is a toilet. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Early in his life, he struggled with drugs, alcohol and an assault conviction, he has said. In the end, the commissioners voted to sue the secretary of states office for forcing them to certify the primary results. Couy Griffin will be featured on Wikipedia . They loved it, Harper said. Because what they get away to doing to me will be what they inevitably do to you. 70 202 Distraught that Bidens victory would be validated by Congress despite the insurrection, he has said that he ran outside and fell on his knees, next to the fire pit. In the search warrant documents filed with the court investigators detail that a Griffin supporter, Casey Conlee, created a Cowboys For Trump GoFundMe account to raise funds under the groups name. He says Griffin is right about lots of things, like the need for a border wall. Thats hard for me to accept.. He delved into politics too, serving as a county Republican chair and as an unsuccessful Republican primary candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014. Yet he couldn't say why its principal place of business is listed as Santa Fe but its mailing address is in Spokane, Wash. Griffin said. He grew up in Reserve, in western New Mexico, where his father ran a sawmill. 13h Heading to the courthouse to hear the verdict! Ramie Harper, a 67-year-old former bull rider from Fruitland, took a break from making custom hats to join the caravan. 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. "And it's cost me everything - from a marriage, to finances, to friends.". He perpetuates the former president's false claim that the 2020 elections were fraudulent. Couy Griffin's Wife, Children Griffin is currently single, he was previously married to his girlfriend Kourtnie A Gates, but they were divorced in 2019. Pull him out of his pick-up, take him to the ground, and charge him with resisting arrest! 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. If I was in your position I wouldnt be able to sleep at night, Griffin said to Holmes. ", But despite conversations with a Department of Agriculture official, nothing happened. Kourtnie Griffin, an Iraqi war veteran, understands "passions for God and country" and believes her ex-husband has a right to express his views, her lawyers said. Sledgehammers! a woman at the back of the room yelled out. ", Meantime, his barbecue business never succeeded. Some extra notes, quotes, news and notes from the Lobos Friday night basketball game in Fort Collins, Colorado. But she "did not take her minor child to war with her" as Couy Griffin is doing by taking their son to President Donald Trump campaign events during a pandemic, the attorneys said. A jury will consider this week whether the support group . Officer: Hello, sir.Griffin: How you doing? That case was appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals which declined to reverse the federal district court decision, After an appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to reverse the decision made by U.S. District Court's dismissal of a case where Cowboys for Trump tried to have the. 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. ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (KRQE) New video shows former County Commissioner Couy Griffin getting pulled over and getting into it with police officers. Griffin has suggested that voting machines provided by Dominion Voting Systems across New Mexico could have been hacked. Sicknick, a Capitol police. The New Mexico Supreme Court denied an appeal from former Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin in the case that removed him from office based on his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. 1 talking about this. 3 Mar. But despite the uproar of the last few years, he still believes he has a support base. Cowboys for Trump still owes the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office $7,800 in fines. It sounds good and people believe it because it sounds authoritative if you dont know much.. Couy Griffin, of New Mexico, was arrested today in Washington, D.C., and charged by criminal complaint with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry. Colorado State slices up Lobos; UNM is a 6 To say that defense was optional would imply is was a choice. Were in a contest of wills. The first-term county commissioner forged a group of rodeo acquaintances in 2019 into a promotional Cowboys for Trump posse to spread his conservative message about gun rights, immigration controls and abortion restrictions. C4T still also has not filed as a political action committee. This story has been shared 104,709 times. And that was one that got me, said Brown, part of a committee seeking to recall Griffin. Former Otero County Commissioner and well-known rabble-rouser Couy Griffin was pulled over in Alamogordo in his Dodge Ram in early November. And it was a challenging venture into the barbecue restaurant business that he said pushed him into politics. However, the new evidence . In what he described as a mission, he traveled on horseback from San Francisco to New York, and then across Europe and the Mediterranean to Jerusalem, arriving in 2008 after more than two years on the road. That happened Tuesday in New Mexico when a state judge disqualified Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin from holding public office. My heart filled and I heard, We are going to win. . Thank you so much for your time and consideration. You people are funny that claim I harass Mr Griffin. My mom worked at Kmart and Lowes, my dad bagged groceries, he said. A recent report from congressional Democrats on election misinformation highlighted Clementss activities and concluded that the greatest current threat to democratic legitimacy now comes from lies by domestic actors who seek to convince Americans that their election systems are fraudulent, corrupt, or insecure., New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who has clashed repeatedly with Clements and his wife, said the misinformation and disinformation were being seeded as core beliefs, not just with elected officials but the general public.. So whats the solution?. He said he went to pray and exercise his right to peacefully protest, but he was arrested for his involvement. Wearing a Cowboys for Trump shirt, and sitting in the office he shares with the heads of a deer and an elk, Griffin discussed the roots of his brand of populist politics. Clementss strategy is to target his message locally: to county commissioners and clerks, jobs that are lower profile but that wield an outsize role in administering Americas decentralized election system. 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 . Brittany Costello: Are you willing to share those? 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. He was also one of three commissioners in Otero, a county of some . Griffin lists himself as manager of Cowboys for Trump. He sees. 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. The lawsuit against Griffin was filed in March by Marco White and Leslie Lakind, both Santa Fe County residents, along with Mark Mitchell of Los Alamos County. They embrace the instructions of leaders like former Trump adviser turned podcaster Stephen K. Bannon, who has urged election deniers to run for local races and sign up to be poll workers in what he calls his precinct-by-precinct takeover strategy. Griffin delivered a scathing rebuke last year as the NFL announced game-opening renditions of Lift Every Voice and Sing, also known as the Black national anthem. At times I felt cursed. He means no malice on anybody, said George Seeds, outside the New Heart Cowboy Church in Alamogordo where Griffin once served as pastor. and signed a child-support check to his ex-wife from his Cowboys for Trump account. His words had an impact: In June, officials in three New Mexico counties where he made his case either delayed or voted against certification of this years primary results, even though there was no credible evidence of problems with the vote. 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. But my hope rests on the law, and the law is available to us all.. The lawsuit contends that Griffin violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits officeholders sworn to uphold the Constitution from engaging in an insurrection against the U.S. government. However he is on probation from the guilty verdict related to the participant and in the capital events of January 6th thus the stakes are now significantly higher. You can play on an old beat-out dirt lot.. And yet he remains determined. The cowboy. 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.. He saw the sawmill's work as "curating" the forest. So..Griffin: We live in a state thats just so corrupt right now and has so much crime, and theres two of you guys out here driving around citing people for no seatbelts. I think that, if that would have been the case, then I would have been charged with that in the United States federal court where this case should be.. What is relevant is what our state government is doing to anyone who still believes in basic rights as a free American. 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. Its like hes been radicalized somehow. Griffin has acknowledged using the county building for promotional videos but said he never claimed they were affiliated with Otero County.

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