Former law professor David Clements has hosted “election integrity” training sessions for thousands of citizens across the country, designed to pressure elections officials in a battle against “election fraud.”
The training event series has been billed as the “Gideon 300” tour—a reference to the biblical story of 300 men who faced an army of 135,000 and won.
Training sessions have been brought to more than a dozen states, including swing counties in Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
Clements has described the “Gideon 300” project as an effort to mobilize 300 or more “warriors” in each county in the United States, meaning people who are willing to show up in large numbers at local elections meetings to speak against certification and who aren’t afraid “to die” or “to be arrested.” These “warriors,” Clements has said, must demand that local officials withhold certification of voting machines or election results. “Gideon 300” trainings typically involve a simulation of a county election board meeting, in which Clements demonstrates what the crowd should do if local officials won’t listen: hijack the public meeting by physically occupying the space, getting control of the microphone, and not giving it up based on what he believes to be “arbitrary” time limits put on speakers.
Journalists who interviewed Clements for Lawfare were invited to a training session at Grace Covenant Church in Hogansville, Georgia. It was kicked off with worship music and a prayer.
Clements compared the use of voting machines to slavery, in a presentation more pastoral than professorial.
“Whether you want to admit it or not, legal violence is going to be committed against you through using these enslavement devices,” he said. He told the audience that it is time to decide whether they will succumb to tyranny. “We are in a spiritual war,” he said. “My hope for today is that you’re gonna feel more solid, more grounded, more connected to your community. And you’ll have a prescription to finally fight back.”
And then Clements rolled the film:
Clements co-produced a documentary called “Let My People Go” with Mike Lindell, the MyPillow.com CEO. Clements explained on the day it was premiered, a jury returned a $148 million damages verdict against Rudy Giuliani “for telling the truth about two particular election workers in Georgia by the name of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.”
“Let My People Go” concluded with what was supposed to be a rousing call to action by Clements, who urged viewers to show up at local meetings and “surround” election workers. “Election workers, canvassing boards, clerks that have broken their trust with you, you will surround them. Can you find 300 of God’s warriors surrounding the 10 feckless usurpers?” he asked. “Do not die on the altar of civility,” he commands. “Become an abolitionist.”
- When the credits for the film rolled, the first name to come up was Ashli Babbitt, who was shot dead by law enforcement on January 6, 2021. All names were swapped out the usual closing credits for a list of people who were indicted, incarcerated, or killed for participating in the Jan. 6 attack.
- Clements has been on the radar before in 2022, but his activities have been quiet leading up to next week’s election, even while officials have been sounding the alarm about the prospect of those refusing to certify the elections.
- Refusing to certify elections is not lawful, nor will it prevent the rightful winners from taking office, but it will sow chaos, misinformation, and potential violence.
*Read the entire story at Lawfare. by Anna Bower and Benjamin Wittes.
