DENVER (CN) — As part of former President Donald Trump’s defense against a lawsuit seeking to block him from the Colorado GOP primary ballot, his legal team on Thursday called two January 6 protesters to testify about gathering in Washington that day to hear a speech from Trump at the Ellipse, a park in D.C. near the White House.
Among those witnesses: A state GOP official and a pro-Trump activist who said she was just one of the "happy warriors" who had come out that day to support the former president. Both used their time in court to cast further doubt on the 2020 presidential election, in which Trump lost to current President Joe Biden.
In addition, Trump's defense team also called Ken Buck, a Republican representative from eastern Colorado. Buck was among the Republican lawmakers who signed on to an amicus brief in Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit that sought to contest Biden's win in several swing states.
Six Colorado voters — four registered Republicans and two independents — had petitioned Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Sept. 6. They claimed that through his speech at the Ellipse on January 6, Trump had incited an ensuing insurrection and therefore is disqualified from holding office under the 14th Amendment.
Trump maintains his political speech is protected by the First Amendment and does not rise to the level of incitement. He filed to intervene once it became clear that Griswold, a Democrat, had no intention of contesting the claims in the petition.
“Donald Trump said to go down to the Capitol peacefully and make your voice heard,” Tom Bjorklund, the Colorado Republican Party’s current treasurer, said in court on Thursday after being called by Trump's defense team.
Bjorklund drove out the Washington to attend the Jan. 6, 2021 rally with his brother. Concerned about counter-protestors, Bjorklund said his son provided him with body armor that he ultimately declined to wear.
As he neared the U.S. Capitol, Bjorklund recalled hearing something that sounded like fireworks. The sound turned out to be law enforcement firing off tear gas canisters.
In the chaos, Bjorklund said he recalled seeing instigators encourage people to enter the Capitol building. Bjorklund did not go into the building — he said it was clear the police didn’t want people in there — but he believes that Antifa, a loosely defined term for antifascist protesters, were egging on otherwise peaceful attendees by encouraging them to get revenge for Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.
To date 1,100 people have been criminally charged for participating in the siege — though no reports confirm a mass presence of counter-protestors leading the way. A January 2021 Pew poll found only 8% of Americans doubted Trump supporters had caused the rioting.
Still, Bjorklund believes damage from the day was inflated to drive a political narrative.
“The belief that there was an insurrection is a ridiculous narrative,” Bjorklund told the court. “I feel like it’s an insult to insurrectionists around the world, because Republicans being angry about an election hardly rises to the level of insurrection.”
Had the mob not stormed the U.S. Capitol, Bjorklund also believes members of Congress could have legally contested the certification of electoral votes — a notion in line with the “false elector” theory promoted by Trump following the 2020 election.
After losing the 2020 election, Trump falsely told supporters that Vice President Mike Pence could simply refuse to certify electoral college votes and state legislatures could submit new votes. Trump faces a four-count federal indictment for driving the false elector narrative, though many supporters still contend it might have worked.
This debunked theory also came out in testimony from Amy Kremer, a conservative activist who founded the organization Women for America First to support Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.
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