MAGA icon Tina Peters was attacked and injured while in prison, her spokesperson has claimed, but video footage of the incident appears to tell a different story.
A representative for Peters — a former clerk in Mesa County, Colorado — said the assault took place on Sunday evening at the La Vista Correctional Facility, where she is serving a nine-year sentence on charges related to election interference in 2020.
“Tina was inside a maintenance closet to fill up a water unit when an inmate approached her in the closet and began striking her in anger,” a representative for Peters said in a statement posted on social media, which garnered over one million views.
“Tina raised her hands and pushed the inmate away,” and suffered “minor injuries” during the altercation, the spokesperson added.
As a result, Peters was placed in solitary confinement and informed that she will be charged with felony assault, the statement said, adding: “Can you imagine 70 year old Tina Peters being charged ANOTHER felony charge for defending herself?”
But, surveillance footage of the encounter obtained by multiple news outlets — including CBS News and 9News — appears to contradict this narrative.
The video shows Peters pulling a cart through a doorway before another inmate approaches and grabs the other side of the cart. The door partially obscures her for a brief moment.
Peters then emerges from the doorway and appears to wrap her hands around the inmate’s neck. She seems to say something to the inmate before pushing her away.
The Colorado Department of Corrections also disputed Peters’ team’s narrative that she was injured and that she is now being punished.
No one suffered injuries, a department spokesperson said, according to KDVR, noting that the incident is under investigation.
“The inmate is not in solitary confinement, but after the incident, was moved to a different housing area,” the spokesperson told 9News. “La Vista Correctional Facility does not utilize solitary confinement.”
A representative for the department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.
It’s not the first time Peters has been involved in an on-camera physical altercation. Video from 2022 appears to show her kicking a police officer who was attempting to arrest her.
Peters has become a focus for Donald Trump and MAGA supporters following her conviction on election-related charges, with the president repeatedly calling for her release.
She served as the county clerk of Mesa County from 2018 to 2023, where she oversaw elections. In 2021, state officials opened an investigation into her after sensitive voting records surfaced online.
Prosecutors alleged that Peters granted unauthorized access to voting equipment during a software update to an individual linked to Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and proponent of 2020 election fraud claims. In 2024, a jury found Peters guilty of 10 criminal charges, including first-degree official misconduct and failure to comply with secretary of state requirements.
“Today’s verdict is a warning to others that they will face serious consequences if they attempt to illegally tamper with our voting processes or election systems,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said at the time.
Peters, who pleaded not guilty, maintained her innocence, telling the court she was trying to serve her county by rooting out fraud. No evidence of widespread election fraud, in Colorado or in other states, was ever found.
She was handed a nine-year prison sentence in 2024.
In December, Trump — who has long argued, without evidence, that the 2020 election was “stolen” — pardoned Peters, which was not valid since she faced state charges. Since then, he has repeatedly posted about Peters on social media, calling for her to be freed.
“God Bless Tina Peters, who is now, for two years out of nine, sitting in a Colorado Maximum Security Prison, at the age of 73, and sick, for the ‘crime’ of trying to stop the massive voter fraud that goes on in her State,” he wrote on Truth Social on New Year’s Eve.
Earlier this month, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, described Peter’s nine-year sentence as “harsh” and said he would evaluate her case. That said, he has refused to automatically kowtow to the president’s demands.
“You can’t give the president the headspace on this,” Polis told CBS News last week. “You look at every case on clemency on the merits. You have somebody who is nonviolent, a first-time offender, elderly. On the other hand, does she take full accountability for her crime? We don’t look at this in isolation.”
During her sentencing hearing in 2024, Judge Matthew Barrett said Peters had shown no remorse.
“You are no hero,” he said. “You abused your position, and you’re a charlatan who used and is still using your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that’s been proven to be junk time and time again.”
