Teenager faces two misdemeanor charges after threatening Harris supporters with a machete at polls

A Florida teenager is facing two misdemeanor charges after police say he threatened two women with a machete and participated in voter intimidation or suppression tactics at an early voting site, police said.

Eighteen-year-old Caleb James Williams was the only adult among a group of eight young men who arrived at the Beaches Branch Library in Neptune Beach Tuesday afternoon with what Police Chief Michael Key Jr. said was a gunshot wound. of Neptune Beach’s sole intention was to ‘protest and oppose’. the opposing political side.” That hostility went from parking to immediately “attacking” gestures, which escalated to Williams waving the machete “over his head in an aggressive, threatened posture” at two women, ages 71 and 54, Key said during a press conference.

Key did not share the political leanings of Williams and the other 16- and 17-year-olds, but the Duval County Democratic Party said the sign wavers were supporters of the Harris-Walz Democratic campaign, meaning the group of men were Trump supporters -campaign. -Vance Republican campaign.

RELATED STORY | A Texas man is charged with punching an elderly poll worker who told him to take off his MAGA hat

Police, who were called to the polling place shortly after the group approached the signs, arrested Williams for criminal mischief, aggravated assault on a person 65 years or older and display of a dangerous weapon. Neptune police later said on Facebook that the ongoing investigation uncovered new video footage showing Williams “committed an additional crime of voter intimidation or suppression within the designated voting location,” leaving him facing another misdemeanor charge.

The other members of the male group “did not exceed the criminal threshold for criminal charges at this time,” Key said, but the investigation is ongoing.

“The group was there for no reason other than malicious intent, to cause unrest,” Key said during the news conference. “This goes far beyond expressing freedom of expression. Saying that your peace is your First Amendment right, but that goes out the window the moment you hold a machete over your head in a threatening manner.”

RELATED STORY | American voters are concerned about post-election violence and efforts to overturn the results

Williams was held in the Duval County Jail on $55,000 bail and made his first court appearance on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. If he is released, the judge ordered him to stay 1,000 feet away from polling stations unless he casts his own vote and must wear an ankle monitor, the publication reported.

Aggravated assault on a senior in Florida carries a minimum sentence of three years and a maximum sentence of fifteen years in Florida. There is no minimum penalty for the third-degree crime of voter suppression or intimidation.

Last week, a Texas man was arrested and now faces a felony charge after punching an elderly poll worker who told him to take off his “Make America Great Again” hat while at an early voting site. The suspect threw “multiple” punches at the 69-year-old poll worker’s face and was charged with a third-degree felony injury to an elderly person.

A Scripps News/Ipsos poll last week found that 62% of respondents say violence related to this election is “somewhat” or “very likely.” More than half even said they would support using the U.S. military to prevent potential threats around Election Day.