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What A Photographer Is Seeing At Arizona's Election Protests
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Caitlin O’Hara/The Washington Post
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones joins pro-Trump protesters alleging voter fraud at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Ariz. on Nov. 6, 2020.
ALEX JONES: The sleeping giant. America is awake, and we are never backing down. I wanna salute —
PROTESTER: This is a free country — we're not your slaves!
LAUREN GILGER: Those were some of the sounds of the protests staged by President Trump supporters at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in downtown Phoenix. Among them were far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and men screaming at a Telemundo reporter while she was live on air. The protesters have been rallying at the elections department, claiming without evidence that the election was being stolen by Democrats — that despite victories for many, many Republicans in the state, including incumbent U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, and a close win for David Schweikert. Arizona freelance photographer Caitlin O'Hara has been covering the protests and I spoke with her more about what she's seen on the ground.
CAITLIN O'HARA: Well, the energy has shifted day to day. During the daytime, the folks are gathering and praying and singing the national anthem. It definitely feels more tense at night. You know, I've been reporting in Arizona for about six years, and it doesn't surprise me or scare me to see folks out and about with guns. That's not the thing that's scary. But you definitely do feel like you want to keep your wits about you when folks are wearing insignias of far-right groups and making threats to members of the press, making threats to people who are maybe on the opposite side. And, you know, I don't say that to be inflammatory because I don't think that there was any threat to me. But it was still unnerving to see insignias that I recognized as people who are white supremacists and to see that presence taking up so much space downtown and outside of the elections office and to see poll workers being escorted by sheriff's deputies. You know that was something I was not necessarily expecting to see.
Caitlin O’Hara for The Washington Post
Pro-Trump protesters say the Pledge of Allegiance at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, Ariz. on Nov. 7, 2020.
GILGER: Yeah. So let's talk about the treatment of the press at these events. Are you able to walk about amongst the crowd? I know in a lot of the circumstances, the press are trying to stay back into a certain area. We've seen some incidents where press are being yelled at on live television, etc. I mean, have you felt that you and your colleagues are safe covering these?
O'HARA: I witnessed a Telemundo reporter from Los Angeles, María Paula Ochoa, I witnessed and photographed her being yelled at while she was on the, air and it was pretty disheartening, and I felt really disgusted — she was just trying to do her job. And a lot of these reporting teams have been out there trying to make sure that everybody's voice has been heard. And the big claim from these pro-Trump protesters has been that they're being censored. But in reality, there's a lot of press out there from national and international and local outlets who are trying to ensure that their claims are heard. But they're really met with a lot of vitriol, and they're really met with a lot of hostility. I have been walking among the crowd and also spent time behind the barrier that the sheriff's department put up. But, you know, it's really hard to do reporting from behind a fence. So I have been amongst the crowd and people have been yelling. I think that one thing that is concerning is that there are a lot of people there who believe that COVID is a hoax. So there's not a lot of masks being worn. And a lot of people are really getting up in your face, yelling at you for wearing a mask. And that's insulting to those of us who have had friends and family affected by the pandemic. And that's a different challenge. But it's all kind of congealed into this kind of very macho, antagonizing kind of stance that some folks have taken against the press.
Caitlin O’Hara for The Washington Post
A reporter takes a breath before continuing election coverage as pro-Trump protesters allege voter fraud at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix on Nov. 6, 2020.
GILGER: Did you get a sense in covering this and talking to people there that there's a unifying message? That there is a core issue at hand here? Or have you heard a smattering of them?
O'HARA: There are definitely a smattering of things that we've heard come up again and again. There are definitely a lot of folks there who are subscribers to far-right conspiracy theories. There are also people out there who are just concerned that their votes aren't being counted. And kudos to the recorder's office — they put up signs directing people to the livestream, so that people can feel like they can witness that for themselves. You know, it's our job to cut through and make this process a little bit more transparent, so that people can understand that there's a lot of people working really hard to make sure that their votes are being counted.
GILGER: So obviously, what you're doing out there as a photojournalist is trying to document this moment for history, essentially. It is historic in so many ways. How do you see your role here? And especially, as members of the media are being yelled at and vilified in this, what's your response? Like, what's going through your head that keeps you out there doing it?
O'HARA: You know, this is a big story all over the country, but Arizona became international and national attention this week. So I think it's really important that people hear local voices and people get a sense of how it felt to be here this week. And I live here, and I love this community, and I really want that to come through in my work. My job isn't to bat for either political candidate that is in power. It's to show what's going on, to show how people are feeling, to show a little bit behind the scenes of the process of how we choose leaders in Maricopa County, in Arizona and in this country.
GILGER: All right. That is Caitlin O'Hara, a freelance photojournalist here in Arizona who's been documenting the vote and the aftermath for The Washington Post. She's also a member of the Juntos Photo Coop here. Caitlin, thank you so much for coming on The Show to talk about this.
O'HARA: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.
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