ACLU files lawsuit alleging voter intimidation and threats in Michigan

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit in Michigan late Tuesday alleging that several unknown individuals threatened and harassed voters in metro Detroit, including a woman who was told her child would be harmed if Democrat Kamala Harris wins race for president.

According to the lawsuit, which names six unnamed John Does as defendants, the group also drove to multiple polling places in Royal Oak and Birmingham and illegally registered registered voters at polling places. In another case, they allegedly followed a female voter to a car as she left a polling station. One of the suspects hid his face, the lawsuit states.

Perhaps most egregious, the ACLU claims, is that police have done nothing to stop this. Filming outside in public is generally okay, but regulations prohibit filming in the voting area.

“In light of law enforcement’s failure to address this illegal conduct earlier today, an injunction against John Does’s intimidation tactics is the only way to protect Michigan voters from the intimidation, intimidation, threats, and coercion that would deter voters from prevented from participating in the elections. election,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit seeks to deter the defendants from engaging in further such “intimidation” tactics during the election process, as well as in connection with any post-election day litigation related to the counting and/or certification of votes.

Late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg granted the ACLU’s request for an injunction.

The ACLU’s lawsuit did not go into detail about the woman claiming her child was threatened. But in his written opinion, Berg included more information about some of the allegations. According to the lawsuit and the judge’s opinion, the following happened:

A poll worker named Steven Raimi filed an affidavit with the ACLU saying he witnessed events at the four polling places where he worked.

At Derby Middle School in Birmingham, Raimi saw three men with cameras who had filmed people going in and out of the polling station. One of them wore a baseball cap that said: ‘DON’T MIND ME, I’M AN A—–E. MY RIGHTS DO NOT STOP WHERE YOUR FEELINGS START.” The other two were said to be wearing “patriotic” shirts.

Raimi told the men that they could not film people going in and out of a polling place, but they responded that it was their First Amendment right to film.

Other people handing out flyers near the polling station told Raimi that the three men had prevented a family from leaving the polling station, despite the family asking them not to include them.

At Oakland Schools Technical Campus Southeast in Royal Oak, Raimi saw one of the same three men who were filming. This time, a man wearing leggings covering his nose and mouth was accompanied by three other individuals who appeared intimidating to Raimi. They had cameras and filmed the polling station.

The police station supervisor instructed the men not to film, but they again stated that it was their First Amendment right to record. Raimi told them not to film either, but got the same response. Police arrived and the individuals left 10 to 15 minutes later, with two of them continuing to film the police’s movements as they left.

“Raimi believes the individuals were part of an organized effort to provoke negative reactions or anger from poll workers and voters and to capture these reactions on video,” the ACLU said in court documents.

The ACLU also filed the affidavit of Nicolette Ago, who said she went to vote at the Oakland Schools Technical Campus in Royal Oak around 2 p.m. When she arrived, she saw two men and a woman recording voters inside with their phones. The men wore masks that covered their faces from the nose down. Ago said she heard poll workers tell the individuals in question to leave, but the individuals insisted they were allowed to film because, they claimed, they were media.

A poll worker called the police.

When Ago went to vote, one of the masked men came over and stood at a distance of five feet, filming. A poll worker told the masked man to back off, as did Ago, but the man refused, telling her, “You have no right to privacy while you vote, I’m not moving.”

Ago stepped into the hallway because she was intimidated. The masked man followed, although Ago went back inside and voted. She reported this to the police.

The ACLU also filed the affidavit of Lisa Feldberg, who said she voted at the First Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, where five men and a woman arrived in the hallway outside the voting room. One man wore a bandana with the American flag over his face. According to the affidavit, the group used selfie sticks to register voters casting ballots.

The lawsuit cited the 2020 presidential election, which resulted in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, where supporters of Donald Trump attempted to stop the certification of Joe Biden as president, claiming that the election was without evidence had been stolen. The lawsuit also cited the chaos that occurred in Detroit the day after the 2020 election, when hundreds of Trump supporters converged on a convention hall and attempted to stop the counting of Detroit’s absentee ballots while shouting, “Stop the count !”

“Concerns about the safety of election officials due to continued threats, beliefs that the 2020 election was stolen, and efforts to intimidate voters remain matters of paramount importance, increasing fears about the upcoming presidential election,” the ACLU lawsuit said, alleging that John Does’ actions violate the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the Voting Rights Act, and the Michigan Constitution.

The ACLU insisted: “Immediate assistance is necessary. It has long been recognized that voting is of the most fundamental importance within our constitutional structure.”

Tresa Baldas: [email protected]