We are hearing more and more claims of rigged elections being touted by Donald Trump with increasing calls to action by Donald Trump for his supporters to monitor polling locations on Election day.
The image says it all — the only person attempting to rig this election is Trump himself!
I am very concerned about the risk that minority voters are going to face intimidation, threats or even violence by Trump’s private militia on election day.
There is also the risk that some minority voters might feel so intimidated they could end up staying home on election day rather than risk a confrontation with Trump’s private militia!
I think Trump’s core supporters are drinking the Kool-aid to the point where they are convinced in their own twisted little minds that the election is rigged against Trump!
I live in the heart of the San Francisco bay area so I’m quite sure I won't see any of that where I live but many areas in this country are not so fortunate and I think the risk is very real!
I think the FBI, Secret Service and other Federal law enforcement are likely already planning on significantly increasing the number of agents in place on election night in and around the Washington D.C. area. I think they are also planning increased agents on inauguration day.
But I’m not so sure they are truly ready to protect Citizen’s Right to Vote during the time the polls are open across the country. I know the FBI will take any reports of voter intimidation, and blocking of people’s access to the polls very seriously but this year is different than any prior election I’ve seen throughout the decades. This year the threat is very real and could be very widespread.
I have said before and I will say again, and again: local law enforcement is not up to the task of protecting everyone’s right to vote if we have anything like the amount of voter intimidation as I fear there might be. And in some areas of the country I would not trust local law enforcement to act in the best interest of minority voters anyway.
The FBI and other law enforcement needs to be on hot alert throughout election day. They obviously cannot be at every at risk polling location in the country but they DO need to be on standby and ready to send Federal law enforcement quickly if calls come in regarding voter intimidation or worse. Every FBI field office needs to have additional personnel to handle this contingency and be ready to rapidly send help to any location needed to protect citizen’s right to vote.
This MUST happen on and during election day! Investigating after the fact (post election day) won’t matter if voters have been prevented from casting their vote in the first place!
I sincerely hope I am just being a bit too paranoid but I truly am worried about this. I’d much rather the FBI and other Federal law enforcement be prepared for this contingency and end up not needing the extra personnel than to NOT be ready and wish we had taken it more seriously to start with.
Can any of us afford to take the risk that Trump’s private militia is just all talk and no action? I don’t think we can — the ramifications if these goons do what they are threatening is just too severe.