Morning Briefing: Threats Against Election Workers Prompt Investigations and Security Measures
Morning Briefing: Threats Against Election Workers Prompt Investigations and Security Measures
As the Department of Justice is 'investigating dozens of threats made to election workers,' several states are 'are considering firearm bans at polling places and ballot drop boxes.'
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Morning Briefing: The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly “investigating dozens of threats made to election workers,” and at least 20 individuals have been charged.
As election workers and other officials involved in the election process are “facing an onslaught of unfounded hostility,” more and more states “are considering firearm bans at polling places and ballot drop boxes ahead of November’s presidential election.”
The threats to election workers are largely motivated by far right extremists and conspiracy theorist and former President Donald Trump false claims about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Many of the Trump’s supporters are currently facing trial, plead guilty, or have been sentenced for participating the the Capitol Riot.
The trial of Rebecca Lavrenz began this week in “U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, as she faces four federal misdemeanor charges for entering the Capitol more than three years ago.”
Rally Runner, who participated in the Capitol Riot and was accused in right-wing media of being an undercover agent of law enforcement, reportedly “pleaded guilty to one count of civil disorder, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years supervised release.”
Steven Cook, who is accused of assaulting at least one U.S. Capitol police officer and a Metropolitan Police officer during the Capitol Riot, pleaded guilty this week and allegedly “repeatedly grabbed at officers’ batons and swung his fist at their heads.”
Thomas Casselman, who allegedly used bear mace during the Capitol Riot, reportedly “entered his guilty plea to a felony offense of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers,” and is scheduled to be sentenced in July.
Jeffrey Sabol, who claimed that he participated in the Capitol Riot “because he was a patriot warrior,” was sentenced to “63 months in prison for three felonies.” Sabol allegedly “ripped a baton from an officer’s hands before pulling another officer into the crowd outside the Capitol, allowing other rioters to assault the officer with weapons.”
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Must Reads
Andrea Mazzarino writes that “we are entering a new and perilous American world and it’s important to grasp that fact. In that context, let me mention a Russian moment when I did no such thing. I still feel guilty about a dinner I had with human-rights colleagues in 2014, including a Russian activist who had dedicated his career to documenting political violence and war crimes committed under successive Russian leaders from Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin. I was sitting at the far end of the table where I couldn’t catch much of the conversation and I joked that I was ‘out in Siberia.’ Yes, my dinner companions graciously laughed, but with an undercurrent of discomfort and tension — and for good reason. They knew the dangerous world they were in and, in fact, that very activist has since been sent to a penal colony for his work discrediting the actions of the Russian armed forces. My joke is anything but a joke now and consider that a reminder of how quickly things can change — and not just in Russia, either. In fact, oppression feels closer than ever in America today and verbal massaging, joking, or willful ignorance can only mask what another Trump presidency could mean for us all.” [Tom Dispatch]
Will Carless reports that “after years of internal and external alarms that the military isn’t doing enough to address hate and extremism, an obscure federal contract may suggest a new approach: monitoring the social media of Air Force Academy cadets, staffers − and anyone else around the campus. Last month, the Air Force struck a contract for digital monitoring to identify hate speech, cyberbullying, sexual harassment and extremism at its Colorado Springs academy. The goal is to ‘combat cadet conduct in digital mediums that has the potential to negatively impact culture and climate.’ Monitoring the posts of the more than 4,000 cadets aligns with efforts elsewhere to screen disinformation and hate speech; other universities plus police agencies and many employers make comparable efforts. But the contract’s extension to the campus community led some experts to raise concerns about whether the effort could violate privacy for military or civilian users. And while Air Force Officials say there are no plans to replicate the program elsewhere in the military, experts on surveillance worry about the contract’s open-ended wording and sweeping focus.” [USA Today]
R.G. Cravens writes that “America is in the grip of a gun violence epidemic. On average, American young people know at least one person who has been injured or killed by a gun, according to a 2024 report from SPLC, Everytown for Gun Safety, and the Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL). Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows “firearm injuries were the leading cause of death among children and teens” in the U.S. in 2020 and 2021. Research also shows gun violence in the United States disproportionately affects LGBTQ+ people. Transgender people are more likely to be victims, rather than perpetrators, of gun violence. Despite the data, the increasing number of mass shootings and gun violence in the United States has been accompanied by an uptick in anti-trans narratives blaming trans and non-binary people for gun violence. In the wake of several prominent mass shootings, anti-trans narratives are used to promote common myths about gun violence that are designed to promote gun buying, block policy change and reinforce divisive far-right ideologies.” [HateWatch]
What to expect from Radical Reports: Morning Briefing provides a daily round-up of reporting on the Radical Right; Extremist Links offers a weekly round-up of extremists activities including the white supremacist and militia movements; Narratives of the Right delivers weekly analysis of the current narratives in far right online spaces and promoted by right-wing media; and Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right.
My bet is Texas will not disallow firearms in polling places.
It’s already a bit intimidating to vote here because the poll watchers appear to be predominantly MAGA adherents, the election workers have an incredible number of rules to follow and are suspicious when identifying every voter, and one doesn’t know for sure that a vote counts because of after voting “confirmations” with limited notice if there are problems.