Reports of violent threats and physical violence leading up to Tuesday’s election were not widespread, but several people across the country have been charged with related crimes in recent weeks.
Scripps News found local, state, and federal authorities made arrests in several jurisdictions for incidents involving election-related intimidation or violence.
Those places include Minnesota, Texas, Michigan, Florida, South Carolina, Arizona, and Washington, D.C.
Threats of shooting
In Rochester, Minnesota, the Olmsted County Attorney charged Timothy William Kearney with a felony after accusing him of threatening to shoot people at a polling place on Nov. 3.
According to court documents obtained by Scripps News, an election judge told police she heard Kearney say he “would shoot all the Democrats in the building” when he and another man came into the polling place to vote. She also reported the men “appeared intoxicated.”
An officer who investigated the incident at Kearney’s housing complex said the 46-year-old refused to open the door for the officer and “kept yelling at (the officer) that he was going to kill them.”
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Court records say Kearney later said that he “didn’t remember what he said.”
In Arizona, weeks before the election, police arrested Jeffrey Michael Kelly, 60, on allegations he shot at a Democratic National Committee office in Tempe. He is also accused of hanging bags of white powder from political signs with razor blades glued around the edges of the signs.
Threats with a machete
In Florida, Caleb Williams, 18, is facing an aggravated assault felony charge after he was accused of intimidating voters with a 23-inch machete at an early voting polling place on Oct. 29.
According to an arrest report obtained by Scripps News, one witness said Williams “approached her with the machete raised above his head in an intimidating manner.” Another witness reported she felt “afraid of being injured.”
A police officer investigating the incident said Williams “admitted to having the machete and holding it with a political sign attached.”
Disputes over political hats
Video captured in Orangeburg, South Carolina, appears to show a voter and poll workers getting into an altercation over the political hat the voter was asked to remove from his head.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed to Scripps News that it is investigating the case, but at this point, no charges have been filed.
A similar argument transpired at a polling place in Bexar County, Texas, where a voter placed a political baseball hat on his head inside an early voting polling place, which was a violation of the law.
“It got ugly,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.
As an election worker escorted the voter from the facility, “the suspect appeared to throw an arm back toward the victim ... The victim seemed to push off of the suspect at that point. The suspect then turned and threw several punches right at the face of the victim,” he said.
Jesse Lutzenberger, 63, is now facing a felony charge for injuring the worker.
In Orland Park, Illinois, prosecutors charged Daniel Schmidt, 24, with felonies after accusing him of punching an election judge who warned him not to cut in line at the election site.
“Schmidt began to yell profanities and punched the election judge in the face, knocking their glasses off,” the Orland Park Police Department said. “At that point, several other patrons jumped in and restrained Schmidt until officers arrived.”
Volunteers threatened with car
In St. Clair Shores, Michigan, a group of volunteers working on a Democratic campaign said a man threatened them with his car while they were distributing information in a VFW parking lot.
Jason Lynch Lafond, 55, is facing charges for assault with a dangerous weapon and ethnic intimidation after the Macomb County prosecutor said he “allegedly shouted derogatory slurs, including ones targeting sexual orientation. He further said that when Trump wins, he will ‘exterminate’ people like them.” The prosecutor said Lafond “returned to his vehicle and accelerated toward (the) volunteers, who had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck.”
Federal charges for bomb threat, threatening comments
This month, federal authorities charged two Michigan men for making online election-related threats of violence.
According to a complaint filed in federal court, Christopher Clay Pierce, 46, is accused of violently threatening a political action committee.
Pierce is accused of writing, “Every day, your people contact me with a campaign ad...You [expletive] contact meagain(sic) I guarantee I can find each and every one of your (expletive) organizees.... We will turn you (expletive) inside out.” He is also accused of writing, “Kamala Harris is nothing but a...communist.”
He also described his associates as “trained killers,” according to court records.
Issac Sissel, 25, is accused of using violent screen names like “ShootUpTrumpRally” and “PlanningToKillTrump.” He is facing federal charges for threatening to violently target conservative Christians after the election.
“I shall carry out an attack...in the event trump wins the election,” he’s accused of writing.
Meanwhile, an election worker in Georgia, Nicholas Wimbish, 25, is facing federal charges for sending a bomb threat to an election superintendent and making it look like it came from a disgruntled voter.
Capitol scare
On election day, United States Capitol Police arrested a man who tried to enter the Capitol Visitor Center while toting a flare gun, a torch lighter, and bottles of what seemed to be gasoline.
“Officers searched the man and found what appears to be a manifesto and a letter to Congress. The letter was focused on the man’s opinions on the war in the middle east,” a police spokesperson said.
“If our officers did not stop this man, [Election Day] would have been a very different story than this one,” U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said.
Manger said he did not believe the incident had anything to do with the election.
The suspect, Austin M. Olson, 27, is facing charges for possessing a prohibited weapon, unlawful activities, and disorderly conduct.
In September, Manager told Scripps News that his officers were and are prepared for threats and violence before, during, and after the election.
“There are folks that certainly say things on social media and make their feelings known that unless the election goes the way they want it to go, that they have big plans to somehow disrupt the government process,” he said. “We’re aware of that, and we certainly are planning for that, and I’m confident that we’re going to be able to protect the Capitol and all that will go on here over the next few months.”
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