(Adnkronos) – The city of Denver, supported by a coalition of associations, has filed a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from deploying armed Ice agents at polling stations during the upcoming midterm elections. “The specter of armed agents at polling stations threatens the freedom of the upcoming elections, instilling fear in voters of being approached by armed federal agents if they choose to vote,” reads the appeal, filed with the district court in Washington, D.C., which directly targets the Department of Homeland Security, Ice, and their respective leaders, Markwayne Mullin and David Venturella.
The appeal refers to a federal law stating that it is illegal to order or supervise the deployment of “troops or armed persons” in “any place where elections are held” unless this is necessary to repel “armed enemies of the United States.” The appeal is defined as preventive because so far the Trump administration has always denied plans for the deployment of armed agents at polling stations, invoked by Maga commentators like Steve Bannon who called on Ice to “surround the polling stations.”
During a press conference in New York in recent days, Mullin said that “Ice does not exist to patrol polling stations.” But then he added that his agents could arrive at polling stations in the event of a “threat” or to arrest someone they are looking for.
