4 times Trump supporters have been accused of voter intimidation in 2020, from a Trump mask-wearing cop to a landlord threatening to double rent if Biden wins
- Record numbers of Americans have already cast their votes early in the 2020 general election.
- There have also been multiple reports of voter intimidation.
- The incidents reported so far include a Miami police officer who wore a Trump 2020 face mask at a polling site, and a Colorado trailer park owner who threatened to double rent if Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins.
- Scroll down to see the list so far. We will continue to record apparent voter intimidation incidents as Election Day approaches.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
@ajayrochester/TikTok
The driver who recorded the video, Australian actress Ajay Rochester, told Insider's Rachel E. Greenspan that she felt "scared and intimidated" as she drove through the three blocks of Trump supporters near a polling place.
It's not clear if Rochester was on the way to vote, or can vote in the US.
Rochester added that the people at the rally "were all there to yell and jeer at any car that did not honk and cheer them on," but that she wasn't sure why the man targeted her.
She said she called the Beverly Hills Police Department after the incident, but the woman who answered the phone "didn't seem to care." She said she also informed the FBI of the incident.
The video, which was originally posted to TikTok, has been taken down but is still viewable on Twitter.
—Good Trouble - !VOTE & MASK UP! (@goodtr0uble) October 28, 2020
Source: Insider
Earlier this month, the owner of a Colorado trailer park was found to have sent letters to his tenants saying that he would double rent if Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election.Google Street View
In his letter, Bernie Pagel said that he would increase rent under Biden because he believes the cost of living would rise. However, he said if Trump is reelected, he would not raise rent for at least two years.
"Voting is your choice and we are not telling you how to vote. We are just informing our tenants what we WILL do according to the election results," Pagel wrote.
While Pagel specified in the letter that he wasn't telling his tenants how to vote, several people who live at his trailer park told KUSA that they believed the letter amounted to voter intimidation.
—Ben Lee (@benleemusic) October 22, 2020
The Colorado Attorney General's Office agreed, sending Pagel a cease-and-desist notice on October 23.
According to Fox News, the notice is essentially a warning, and means that Pagel could face $1,000 in fines and up to year in prison if the attorney general's office finds evidence that he is continuing to intimidate tenants.
A Miami police officer was also photographed wearing a Trump 2020 face mask at a polling site. The Florida State Attorney's Office is investigating.Steve Simeonidis via Miami Herald
Steve Simeonidis, chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, tweeted a photo of the Trump-supporting officer on October 20.
Simeonidis identified the officer as Daniel Ubeda. Florida State Attorney Katherine Fernandez has since confirmed it.
Shortly after the tweet was published, Miami police officials said that wearing a political mask in uniform was "unacceptable" behavior that would be "addressed immediately."
Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami also told reporters the photo was taken while the officer was in line to cast his own vote, but condemned his actions.
On October 22, Fernandez said in a statement that while she "respects" the officer's First Amendment right to express his opinion, she believes his actions were "unacceptable" for his position.
"Wearing one's police uniform at a voting site while expressing a political opinion may be construed as an official attempt to send a distinct message to potential voters," Fernandez said, adding that her office has opened an investigation.
Source: Business Insider
The Trump campaign was also found to have filmed Philadelphia voters depositing their ballots at drop boxes. Pennsylvania's attorney general said the act could amount to voter intimidation.According to The New York Times, the Trump campaign had used the footage to complain to city officials on October 16 about voters dropping off multiple ballots at one time, instead of only their own.
The city rejected the argument that the voters had done anything wrong, and warned the campaign that filming voters dropping off their ballots could cross the line from poll watching to voter intimidation.
President Trump has previously encouraged his supporters to go to polling places to monitor votes being counted.
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
During the first presidential debate on September 30 in Cleveland, Ohio, Trump said: "I am urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully, because that's what has to happen," adding that poll watchers in Philadelphia had been "thrown out."
But as Business Insider's Grace Panetta reported, legitimate poll watchers in the city had not been denied from observing at the polls, and the state of Pennsylvania had not commenced traditional in-person voting at the time of Trump's remarks.
Shortly after the debate Nevada's attorney general, Aaron Ford, tweeted: "Voter intimidation is illegal in Nevada. Believe me when I say it: You do it, and you will be prosecuted."
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