The state that used to be famous for drunken spring breakers and is now infamous for being an alt-right bastion under Trump-wannabe Gov. Ron DeSantis has decided to go all-in on its new look: Florida is now hiring (allegedly) former members of the Proud Boys to man its polls on Election Day.
HuffPost reports that three ex-Proud Boys were hired as poll workers in Miami-Dade County, one of whom—Gabriel Garcia—stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. He was finally placed on a volunteer standby list and has not yet been reassigned to another polling station.
The other two men were identified by Local 10 News as Christopher Barcenas (who was also at the Capitol on Jan. 6, although it is not known if he entered the building) and Nowell Salgueiro. Both men are on track to be trained for their Election Day duties. HuffPost reports all three are current members of the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee.
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According to the requirements of being a poll worker in Miami-Dade County, among other things, one must be “respectful of all voters” and “remain nonpartisan while at the polls.” Let’s see if these three can manage that.
As the Miami New Times reported recently, after Garcia, the former head of Vice City Proud Boys, did his Election Day training, he headed immediately to Telegram to proudly proclaim, "That's right, you heard it right, I'm working the poll. Cry some more, liberals. Enjoy your day.” He was donning a “Fuck Biden” cap in the video.
A former U.S. Army captain, Garcia faces six federal charges for his alleged involvement in the insurrection on Jan. 6.
Garcia also filmed himself inside the Capitol screaming for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to “come out and play” and referred to the Capitol Police as “fucking traitors.” What a winner, folks. Just the guy you want running your polls on Election Day. What could possibly go wrong?
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I guess it only makes sense when even after a college football jumbotron becomes an advertisement of antisemitism, the overpass of a freeway becomes a showcase for Nazi rhetoric, and the governor of the state says nothing for days on end. So why not hire the Nazis themselves?
Florida has 665,000 Jewish adult residents, about 3.9% of the Florida electorate, but somehow antisemitism has taken center stage in the state, and the Republican Party has done or said little to denounce it.
Mariam Feist, the CEO of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Northeast Florida, told News4JAX, “I am a proud Jew, and I am a proud American. I want to live, and I want our community. I want my family, my neighbors, to live somewhere and feel safe and secure … I wish there was an answer for how you could stop all this, but this has been going on for centuries.”
Feist added:
“Start educating children of all beliefs and all walks of life to have respect and tolerance for each other that’s what makes America the melting pot. We’re all bringing our differences.”
As we know, educating kids in Florida is a whole other hell as DeSantis has used the banning of critical race theory—a graduate-level legal concept that has never been taught in any K-12 institution in the country—to alter curricula and essentially whitewash American history.
Florida Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried and Jacksonville mayoral candidate Donna Deegan have been vocal about the recent explosion of antisemitism in the state. During a recent press conference, Fried said, “We need every elected official, whether state, federal, Florida or across the country, this is not a Democratic or Republican issue, this is a human rights issue, this is human decency, this is how you talk and treat each other.”
Deegan added, “We stand strong against any and all intolerance for any of our neighbors: Black, Hispanic, Asian, immigrant, LGBTQ.”
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