DETROIT — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson accused a group of protesters who gathered outside her Detroit home Saturday night, some said to be armed, of trying to intimidate her and overturn the will of the voters in last month’s presidential election.

In a statement released Sunday, Benson, the state’s top election official, said she and her 4-year-old son had just finished decorating their house for Christmas and were about to watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” when a couple of dozens protesters arrived “shouting obscenities and chanting into bullhorns in the dark of night.”

A portion of the demonstration was streamed live on Facebook, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press, which showed the protesters holding signs and chanting “Stop the steal!” and "We want an audit," in addition to other phrases.

The pro-Trump demonstrators’ main goal seemed to be to force Benson to order a forensic audit of Michigan’s votes. Democrat Joe Biden won the state by more than 154,000 votes. President Donald Trump and his allies have repeated claims of widespread election fraud but have lost case after case in courts in battleground states due largely to insufficient evidence.

In her statement, Benson, a Democrat, said she thought the protest at her home went too far.

“I have always been an energetic advocate for the right and importance of peaceful protest as enshrined in the United States Constitution, however there is a line crossed when gatherings are done with the primary purpose of intimidation of public officials who are carrying out the oath of office they solemnly took as elected officials,” she said.

Benson said in her statement that some of the protesters were armed. Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw told WXYZ-TV that he believes some of the protesters were openly carrying guns.

The secretary of state said the demonstrators’ actions were “an extension of the noise and clouded efforts to spread false information about the security and accuracy of our elections.”

“The demands made outside my home were unambiguous, loud and threatening,” Benson added. “They targeted me in my role as Michigan’s Chief Election Officer. But the threats of those gathered weren’t actually aimed at me – or any other elected officials in this state. They were aimed at the voters. 

“Through threats of violence, intimidation, and bullying, the armed people outside my home and their political allies seek to undermine and silence the will and voices of every voter in this state, no matter who they voted for. Their goal is to overturn and upend the results of an election that are clear and unequivocal, and that 5.5 million Michigan citizens participated in.”

She added that “the incessant and graphic threats” won’t “deter me, my team, or the more than 1,600 election administrators across the state of Michigan” from doing their job of defending and protecting “every Michigan voter, their choice, and their votes.”

Police responded to Benson’s home, but no arrests were made, The Washington Post reported. 

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy released a joint statement saying: “Anyone can air legitimate grievances to Secretary Benson’s office through civil and democratic means, but terrorizing children and families in their own homes is not activism.”

According to The Washington Post, threats from people believing the election was stolen from Trump have been made against officials in Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Vermont, Kentucky, Minnesota and Colorado. 

Last week, Gabriel Sterling, a top election official in the Georgia secretary of state’s office, gave an impassioned plea for people to stop spreading misinformation and threatening officials and elections workers who were simply doing their jobs in Georgia as well as other states

"Someone's going to get hurt, someone's going to get shot, someone's going to get killed," he said. "It's not right."

During a hearing before Michigan state lawmakers last week, Rudy Giuliani, the attorney leading Trump’s efforts to subvert the election results, expressed no sympathy for officials facing threats.

“They’re the ones who should have the courage to step up,” he said. “You have got to get them to remember that their oath to the Constitution sometimes requires being criticized. Sometimes it even requires being threatened.”

Michigan is the same state whose governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer — criticized by many, including Trump, over her coronavirus-related restrictions — was the target of a kidnapping plot by members of a militia group, the FBI said in October.