Election Violence Is Already Here

A antheral successful a achromatic van circled an aboriginal voting tract successful Loxahatchee, Florida, and shouted antisemitic and racist slurs astatine a radical of radical campaigning outside. A antheral who went to ballot successful Orangeburg, South Carolina, brawled with predetermination workers aft helium was asked to region his Trump hat. A antheral successful Tempe, Arizona, was arrested for shooting up a DNC bureau 3 times.

These are conscionable immoderate of the disturbing incidents that person taken spot successful the past 10 days alone.

WIRED is tracking however disinformation and heightened governmental rhetoric is spilling retired into the existent satellite arsenic Election Day nears, manifesting successful the signifier of acts of sabotage, intimidation, and violence. Please scope retired via this form with tips.

Authorities are connected precocious alert for election-related unit this year. Since 2020, predetermination workers person faced a changeless barrage of threats, harassment and stalking astatine specified a level that the DOJ formed a peculiar part conscionable to analyse those types of threats. A bid of quality memos reported by WIRED bespeak that officials are bracing for imaginable chaos and sabotage from “insider threats,” arsenic good arsenic possible attacks connected voting infrastructure for the 2024 US election. The V-Dem Institute, a governmental subject think-tank based successful Sweden which takes a data-driven attack to measuring and conceptualizing democracies astir the world, put retired a report that predicted a “relatively precocious likelihood of electoral violence” for the election.

We’ve compiled a full of 13 caller confirmed incidents truthful far, and we’ll support updating arsenic we go.

10/22/2024 — Tempe, Arizona

Jeffrey Michael Kelly, 60, was arrested and detained connected coercion charges successful transportation for 3 shootings extracurricular a Democratic National Committee bureau implicit the people of 2 weeks successful precocious September. Police said helium besides affixed razor blades and bags of achromatic pulverization labeled “biohazard” to anti-Democrat signs erected astir his home. They discovered 250,000 rounds of ammo, 120 firearms, and a grenade launcher erstwhile they searched his home, and judge helium was prepping for a “mass casualty event.”

10/23/2024 — Phoenix, Arizona

A USPS container was acceptable connected fire, and astir 20 mail-in ballots were damaged. Dieter Klofkorn, 35, was taken into custody connected suspicion of arson. His motive is not presently known.

10/24/2024 — Loxahatchee, Florida

A radical of radical were campaigning for a Jewish section Democratic campaigner extracurricular a nationalist library, which was an aboriginal voting site. Nicholas Farley, 30, allegedly drove astir the tract successful a achromatic van shouting antisemitic and racist slurs astatine the campaigners. Later, erstwhile questioned by deputies, Farley touted the sanction of a neo-Nazi website, continued to marque racist and antisemitic remarks, and said helium uses those slurs towards anyone who “commits transgression and don’t enactment America and patriots similar him,” the Palm Beach Post reported.

10/24/2024 — San Antonio, Texas

Jesse Lutzenberger, 63, allegedly repeatedly assaulted an aged predetermination idiosyncratic astatine a polling spot who repeatedly asked him to region his MAGA hat. He’s since been charged with wounded to an aged person. One recurring flashpoint for unit appears to beryllium authorities laws that barroom voters from wearing governmental attire to polling places (21 states person specified laws connected the books).

10/25/2024 — Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Election workers flagged much than 2,500 mail-in ballots arsenic fraudulent. The ballots contained names of candidates from antithetic governmental parties, and officials fishy that they were sent successful arsenic portion of a coordinated operation to erode spot successful the voting process. The incidental is nether investigation.

10/26/2024 — Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

GOP office successful Montgomery County received a weaponry threat. State constabulary are investigating.

10/28/2024 — Vancouver, Washington & Portland, Oregon

Ballot drop-boxes successful Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon, were acceptable connected occurrence utilizing incendiary devices. A third, undetonated instrumentality was recovered by different drop-box successful Vancouver. Investigators accidental that signs saying “Free Gaza” were discovered nearby, but cautioned that those shouldn’t needfully beryllium an denotation of motive arsenic the fishy could person near them to deflect blasted towards leftists.

10/28/2024 — Delaware County, Pennsylvania

MAGA activistic Val Biancaniello was taken into custody for disruptive and belligerent behaviour that seemed intended to power different voters portion waiting successful enactment astatine a polling place. Video of Biancaniello being arrested went viral, and the GOP are claiming that it’s grounds of “voter suppression” targeting Trump supporters.

10/28/2024 — Redding, California

A landlord was fired from his position aft bragging successful a station connected Reddit that helium was utilizing ballots belonging to erstwhile tenants to formed further votes for Trump. The section District Attorney told Action News Now that she’s weighing transgression charges.

10/29/2024 — Neptune Beach, Florida

Caleb James Williams, 18, showed up to an aboriginal voting determination with a radical of young men, holding a Trump motion and brandishing a machete towards a radical of pistillate Harris voters. He’s facing aggravated battle charges.

10/30/2024 — Champaign, Illinois

A fight astatine a polling place broke retired erstwhile an predetermination idiosyncratic told a antheral successful a Trump chapeau that helium wasn’t allowed to deterioration governmental merchandise portion voting. The antheral reportedly pulled retired a camera and started signaling the predetermination worker, and past got into an altercation with different voter.

10/30/2024 — Orangeburg, South Carolina

A antheral wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” chapeau was told helium couldn’t ballot astatine his polling spot portion wearing it. Video shows that helium rapidly became aggressive, a combat broke out, and helium launched towards canvass workers, mostly Black women. Some workers had to pin backmost his arms to forestall him from striking their colleagues.

10/30/2024 — Westminster, Maryland

An predetermination person successfully obtained a “peace order” against a section GOP authoritative and activistic who was reportedly harassing predetermination workers during aboriginal voting.

WIRED besides noted respective arrests for incidents that took spot anterior to our dataset’s timeframe (starting October 21). On October 21, the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force unsealed an indictment charging a Pennsylvania antheral who threatened a authorities governmental enactment typical who was recruiting canvass watchers. The affiliation oregon individuality of the enactment typical was not revealed successful tribunal documents, but investigators accidental that the fishy threatened to hunt and tegument him alive.

On October 29, Madison County authorities successful Indiana arrested Larry L Savage Jr., 51, a erstwhile GOP campaigner for U.S. Rep, for stealing respective predetermination ballots during a voting instrumentality test, and past trying to dispersed disinformation online astir the machines being faulty.