In MAGA-Led Shasta County, Election Apprehension Reigns
At 9 p.m. on Thursday, a woman yelled at a black man and told him to get out.
“We don’t know what’s going on, but we don’t know,” the man replied.
“Get out of here,” the woman repeated.
The man was at his polling place in Shasta County, about 25 miles northwest of Sacramento, in response to a call from a poll worker and someone he described as his neighbor.
After learning from a voter registrar that his polling location might have closed, the man got in his car and drove through a neighborhood and the Sacramento area, including two polling places, in the direction of the next one. Before he reached that location, the registrar had called local law enforcement and had reported that a female had yelled at and threatened the man.
After the man left his polling place, his neighbor spotted him sitting in his vehicle and called police. He was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery.
The man, who did not respond to questions, was charged later, according to court documents. His name is being withheld in order to avoid interfering with the election, which will be held May 2. (He is being represented by the Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office but has not entered a plea.)
The man’s arrest is a cautionary tale and a warning to poll workers in California and nationwide: Be careful about being out alone in a voting area and don’t hesitate to call 911 when you feel threatened.
The latest episode in the election-related violence comes just days after a woman in the Sacramento area was shot four times during a reported armed robbery at a grocery store. The victim was taken to the hospital in a semi-conscious condition and released later that evening.
In both instances, election-related anxiety and concerns about crime contributed to a surge in the number of people reporting being worried about the upcoming elections
