Table of Contents
A man in a white van surrounded an early voting site in Loxahatchee, Florida, and shouted anti-Semitic and racist slurs at a group of campaigners outside. A man who went to vote in Orangeburg, South Carolina, got into a fight with poll workers after they asked him to remove his Trump hat. A man in Tempe, Arizona, was arrested for shooting three times at a Democratic National Committee office.
These are just some of the disturbing incidents that have taken place in just the last ten days.
WIRED is tracking how disinformation and heightened political rhetoric are spilling over into the real world as Election Day approaches, manifesting in the form of acts of sabotage, intimidation and violence. Please contact through this form with advice.
Authorities are on high alert for violence related to this year’s elections. Since 2020, election workers have faced a constant barrage of threats, harassment and bullying to such a level that the Department of Justice formed a special division just to investigate those types of threats. A series of intelligence memos reported by WIRED indicate that officials are preparing for possible chaos and sabotage by “insider threats,” as well as possible attacks on election infrastructure for the 2024 U.S. election. The V-Dem Institute , a Sweden-based political science think tank that takes a data-driven approach to measuring and conceptualizing democracies around the world, publish a report which predicted a “relatively high probability of electoral violence” for the election.
We have collected a total of 13 recent confirmed incidents so far and will continue to update as we progress.
10/22/2024 – Tempe, Arizona
Jeffrey Michael Kelly, 60, was arrested and detained on terrorism charges in connection with three shootings outside a Democratic National Committee office over the course of two weeks in late September. Police said he also placed razor blades and bags of white powder labeled “biohazard” on anti-Democrat posters posted around his home. They discovered 250,000 rounds of ammunition, 120 firearms and a grenade launcher when they searched his home and believe he was preparing for a “mass casualty event.”
10/23/2024 – Phoenix, Arizona
A USPS box was set on fire and approximately 20 mail-in ballots were damaged. Dieter Klofkorn, 35 years old, was taken into custody on suspicion of arson. His motive is currently unknown.
10/24/2024 – Loxahatchee, Florida
A group of people were campaigning for a local Jewish Democratic candidate in front of a public library, which was an early voting location. Nicholas Farley, 30, allegedly drove around the scene in a white van shouting anti-Semitic and racist insults at activists. Later, when questioned by officers, Farley promoted the name of a neo-Nazi website, continued to make racist and anti-Semitic comments and said he uses such slurs toward anyone who “commits crimes and doesn’t support America and patriots like him.” reported the Palm Beach Post.
10/24/2024 — San Antonio, Texas
Jesse Lutzenberger, 63, allegedly repeatedly assaulted an elderly poll worker at a polling location who repeatedly asked him to remove his MAGA hat. he is since he was accused with injury to an elderly person. A recurring point of violence appears to be state laws that prohibit voters from wearing political clothing in polling places (21 states have such laws in effect).
10/25/2024 – Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Election workers noted that more than 2,500 mail-in votes were fraudulent. The ballots contained names of candidates from different political parties, and officials suspect they were sent as part of a coordinated operation erode confidence in the voting process. The incident is under investigation.
10/26/2024 – Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County Republican Party Headquarters received a bomb threat. State police are investigating.
10/28/2024 – Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon
Voting drop boxes in Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, were set on fire with incendiary devices. A third device, undetonated, was found next to another mailbox in Vancouver. Investigators say there were signs reading “Free Gaza” discovered nearby, but cautioned that this should not necessarily be an indication of motive, as the suspect could have left them to deflect blame onto leftists.
10/28/2024 – Delaware County, Pennsylvania
MAGA activist Val Biancaniello was taken into custody for disruptive and belligerent behavior that appeared intended to influence other voters while they were standing in line at a polling location. Video Biancaniello’s arrest went viral and the Republican Party claims it is evidence of “voter suppression” targeting Trump supporters.
10/28/2024 – Redding, California
One owner was fired from his position after boasting in a Reddit post that he was using ballots from former tenants to cast additional votes for Trump. The local district attorney told Action News Now she is considering criminal charges.
10/29/2024 – Neptune Beach, Florida
Caleb James Williams, 18, showed up at an early voting location with a group of young people, holding a Trump sign and brandishing a machete towards a group of women Harris voters. He faces charges of aggravated assault.
10/30/2024 – Champaign, Illinois
TO fight at a polling place It erupted when a poll worker told a man wearing a Trump hat that he was not allowed to wear political items while voting. The man reportedly pulled out a camera and began recording the poll worker, and then got into an altercation with another voter.
10/30/2024 – Orangeburg, South Carolina
A man wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” hat was told he couldn’t vote at his polling place if he was wearing it. The video shows thatHe quickly became aggressive, a fight broke out and he lunged at poll workers, mostly black women. Some workers had to hold his arms to prevent him from hitting his colleagues.
10/30/2024 – Westminster, Maryland
An electoral leader successfully obtained a “peace order” against a local Republican official and activist who was reportedly harassing election workers during early voting.
WIRED also noted several arrests for incidents that took place before the time period of our data set (beginning October 21). On October 21, the Justice Department’s Election Threat Task Force opened an accusation charging a Pennsylvania man who threatened a representative of a state political party who was recruiting poll watchers. The party representative’s affiliation or identity was not revealed in court documents, but investigators say the suspect threatened to hunt him down and skin him alive.
On October 29, authorities in Madison County, Indiana arrested Larry L Savage Jr., 51, former Republican candidate for United States Representative, for stealing several ballots during a test of voting machines and then attempting to spread disinformation online that the machines were defective.
