Minnesota prosecutors are investigating whether or not a security company recruited armed security guards for polling places on Election Day.
In an announcement this week, Keith Ellison, the state’s attorney general, announced an investigation into the Tennessee-based company Atlas Aegis after groups accused the company of voter intimidation. The Council on American-Islamic Relations of Minnesota and the League of Women Voters of Minnesota filed a lawsuit against Atlas Aegis on Tuesday, alleging it posted an advertisement on social media seeking to hire U.S. military special operations personnel to guard polling areas.
“Minnesota and federal law are clear: no one may interfere with or intimidate a voter at a polling place, and no one may operate private armed forces in our state. The presence of private ‘security’ at polling places would violate these laws. It would make no one safer and is not needed or wanted by anyone who runs elections or enforces the law. For these reasons, my office is formally investigating Atlas Aegis,” Ellison said in a statement.
“I encourage every eligible Minnesotan to vote in whatever way works best for them. Minnesotans have every reason to expect our elections will be as safe and secure as they have always been. We don’t expect to have to enforce these laws, but we will use all their power and every resource available to us if we have to,” he continued.
The company’s website describes itself as consisting of the “world’s most elite special operations units,” listing Delta Force, Green Berets, Navy SEALs, and Army Rangers as examples. “Today, we provide unprecedented protection for our clients’ people, assets and image,” the description continues.
Anthony Caudle, the security company’s chairman, confirmed the authenticity of the advertisement to the Washington Post earlier this month. Caudle said the company’s client in Minnesota was a “consortium of business owners and concerned citizens” but did not specifically name the client contracting the company. “That consortium hired another unnamed firm licensed in Minnesota as the prime contractor, and Caudle’s company is responsible for staffing the security guards, he said,” according to the Washington Post.
Caudle told the newspaper it was sending a “large contingent” to polling areas in an effort to stop left-wing activists from disrupting the election rather than intimidate voters.
“These people are going to be never even seen unless there’s an issue. So it’s not like they’re going to be standing around and only allowing certain people in,” he said.
“They’re there for protection, that’s it. They’re there to make sure that the antifas don’t try to destroy the election sites,” Caudle later added. According to Caudle, Minnesota election officials and local law enforcement are aware that the armed civilians would be present to guard the polling locations. However, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who oversees the state’s elections, told the Washington Post he wasn’t aware of the company’s intention until the newspaper notified him with its inquiry.
“Law enforcement on the state and federal level, with whom we are in constant touch, have a good handle on the situation,” Simon said. “No one needs to arm themselves or others in order to safeguard democracy this year.”
