Emmet County Sheriffs release bodycam of a break in at Cross Village about tampered voting machines

0:00 - Bodycam 1
1:22:15 - Bodycam 2
1:47:29 - Bodycam 3

Recordings from a deputy's body camera provide new details about how a small, unofficial group came together last year in a conspiracy theory-fueled attempt to access election data in a remote corner of northern Michigan.

Video captured by Emmet County Sheriff's Deputy Mark Hazen, shows the deputy answered a call about a possible break-in at the Cross Village township offices, found a ballot tabulator open, its internal computer removed with screws stripped and eight people in the building.

The Record-Eagle obtained Hazen's body camera video and others from Emmet County through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Sheriff's department reports show no connection between this incident and allegations of others in Michigan reported to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office, though Benson did warn clerks to be vigilant.

"Our office has recently received multiple credible allegations of instances in which an unauthorized third-party has been granted access to vote tabulation machines in violation of Michigan law," Benson said, in a Feb. 10 letter to city, township and county clerks.

The next day, a Michigan State Police spokesperson confirmed an investigation into allegations an unnamed third party accessed voting equipment in Roscommon County's Richfield Township.

Richfield Township Clerk Greg Watt couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday; MSP Sgt. Ashley Miller said the investigation is ongoing.

A pattern of misinformation

Mary Clark, president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, described what she said has become an unsettling pattern of misinformation.

"It's a pattern in the sense that there are people who still decline to accept the reality of the 2020 election outcome," Clark said. "There's also a lot of misunderstanding about how elections work."

One fallacy, for example, is that data is stored on a voting tabulator months after an election is over.

"There's nothing in the tabulator after election night," Clark said. "Because everything is saved to an encrypted jump drive that gets delivered to the county clerk in a sealed bag."

Cross Village Township Clerk Diana Keller said as much in previous interviews with the Record-Eagle.

Hazen's Jan. 14, 2021 body cam video shows, however, the two men who greeted the deputy at the door of the historic schoolhouse-turned-offices, library and meeting space for Cross Village Township's 281 residents, appear unaware the machines contain no data.

Instead, Allan Coveyou, owner of a Petoskey computer repair business, and Michael Starkey, wearing a bulletproof vest and equipped with a holstered sidearm and handcuffs, discuss an assignment they apparently believed at the time, originated from a federal agency.

"I was contracted, from, like, a Department of Defense contact, to come here and clone the hard drive so they can investigate the software at some other place," Coveyou told Hazen.

"Allegedly the DOD is on the perimeter, allegedly, we don't know," said Starkey. "But there are DOD contractors that have been watching this place ... I can't confirm or deny but I'm just telling you the information we were given."

Township Trustee Howard Wood was with Starkey and Coveyou as they recorded a 25-minute video of activity on Jan. 14, 2021, prior to Hazen's arrival.

Emmet County officials released the video to the Record-Eagle in response to the FOIA request.

"Are you guys from the state or anything?" Keller asks the men. "I just feel like I should be checking who you're from. Is this a legit thing?"

"Yes ma'am it is legitimate," Starkey can be heard answering. "We'd never put you in a position like that."

Keller previously said the men's manner and the fact that Starkey was armed, made her feel afraid and intimidated.

Hazen said in a report of the incident he believed the men's presence at the township office was legitimate, as was their goal of collecting voting data from the tabulator.

Three others Hazen interviewed on scene — former township clerk Priscilla Sweet and her friends, sisters Tiera and Tawnya Morse of Harbor Springs — provided no specific explanation for their presence at the building.

An eighth person, a man who lives near the township hall arrived during Hazen's investigation to use the building's public wifi but was turned away.

Officials with the U.S. Depart of Defense said claims the agency oversees elections, or hires outside contractors for the job is fallacy.
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