My theory is that they knew they would get caught, and that the President would not back down.
Their goal is to gaslight as many people as possible, so that when their fraudulent ballots are expelled from the counts, and President Trump wins, handily, they will have the maximum number of rioters and saboteurs. They want to launch a full-on “Color Revolution,” just like they did in Ukraine. It’s going to fail utterly. Hardcore SJWs will take to the streets, however, there won’t be the huge numbers of the last riots. Too many people recognize the fraud, and a reelected President Trump will likely go all out in suppressing those who think they can make us surrender.