Ga. Poll Workers Testify at Jan. 6 Capitol Riot Hearing About Living in Fear Since 2020 Election
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman
A former Georgia polls worker who was targeted by Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani testified in front of the Jan. 6 House Select committee on Tuesday, detailing the threats she and her family received after the 2020 election.
Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, gave emotional testimonies about living in fear after Giuliani "publicized a video" of Moss and Freeman counting ballots during election night.
According to Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, Trump, Giuliani and others falsely claimed the pair were "involved in a plot to kick out observers, bring suitcases of false ballots for [Joe] Biden into the [State Farm] arena, and then run them through the machines multiple times."
After being called into her supervisor's office and being shown the video, Moss, who worked as an elections worker for over 10 years, was asked if she had received any threats. She then checked her Facebook Messenger — something she said she didn't normally check — and was bombarded with "a lot of horrible things."
"A lot of threats, wishing death upon me, telling me that I'll be in jail with my mother and saying things like, 'Be glad it's 2020 and not 1920.' A lot of them were racist, a lot of them were hateful," she said.
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Moss' mom went on to say that the threats she and her daughter received because of Trump and Giuliani's claims have caused her to live in fear since the election.
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"I won't even introduce myself by my name anymore. I get nervous when I bump into someone I know in the grocery store who says my name. I'm worried about who's listening. I get nervous when I have to give my name for food orders. I'm always concerned with who's around me," Freeman said.
Added Freeman: "I've lost my name, I've lost my reputation, I've lost my sense of security, all because a group of people, starting with 45 and his ally Rudy Giuliani, deciding to scapegoat me and my daughter, to push their own lies about how the presidential election was stolen."
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"It's turned my life upside down. I no longer give out my business card, I don't transfer calls, I don't want anyone knowing my name, I don't want to go anywhere with my mom," Moss added. "I haven't been anywhere at all. I've gained about 60 pounds. I just don't do nothing anymore, I don't want to go anywhere. I second guess everything that I do. It's affected my life in a major way, in every way, all because of lies and me doing my job, the same thing I've been doing forever."
Moss told the committee that her grandmother was also targeted, with people showing up to her home and "pushing their way through, claiming that they were coming in to make a citizen's arrest, they needed to find me and my mom, they knew we were there."
The FBI told Moss' grandmother to go into hiding ahead of Jan. 6, telling her to flee her home for her own safety, according to Schiff.
"I felt horrible, I felt like it was all my fault, like if I would have never decided to be an elections worker…I could've done anything else, but that's what I decided to do," Moss explained. "I felt bad for my mom, I felt horrible for picking this job and being the one who always wants to help and always be there, never missing an election. I felt like it was my fault for putting my family in this situation."
