SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Since 2020, many election conspiracy theories have focused on Dominion Voting Systems, a company based in Colorado. Now a man has been arrested in Colorado, accused of firebombing a county office that held Dominion equipment. Colorado Public Radio’s Bente Birkeland reports.
BENTE BIRKELAND, BYLINE: The suspect, William Wayne Bryant, ran for sheriff in 2022 in rural Archuleta County in southwest Colorado. He allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail into the county clerk’s office last month, engulfing parts of it in flames. It happened around 1 a.m. and no one was injured. The county’s Dominion voting machines were in the office. Kristy Archuleta is the Republican county clerk and says Bryant spoke up in public meetings about wanting the county to get rid of Dominion machines over concerns about fraud.
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KRISTY ARCHULETA: It’s unfortunate that people think that we’re not doing the job according to law. I mean, we are. We all do.
BIRKELAND: An effort to get Bryant, who’s out on bail, on the phone was unsuccessful. He’s scheduled to be formally charged next week.
Denver-based Dominion has been at the center of false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump. Colorado’s Democratic secretary of state, Jena Griswold, says Trump’s false claims are inflammatory and have helped to normalize political threats.
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JENA GRISWOLD: The fact that an election office in the state of Colorado was firebombed with a Molotov cocktail is shocking and appalling. With that said, we have seen a huge uptick in threats since Trump has pushed out his big lie.
BIRKELAND: The incident has displaced nearly 30 county staff. Archuleta said Dominion plans to send replacement machines once the office reopens to the public.
For NPR News, I’m Bente Birkeland in Denver.
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