Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Threatening Emails: Vote for Trump or Else!


Thu 22 Oct 2020 | 10:53 PM
Ahmed Moamar

Dozens of American voters in Alachua County, Florida State, were surprised to receive e-mail messages, including 183 people at State University, allegedly from a right-wing group threatening to "pursue them" if they won't vote for President Trump over the next presidential elections.

Also, voters in Alaska and Arizona States reported that they had received the same message.

Election officials in Florida and Alaska called law enforcement after registered voters reported receiving threatening messages saying, "Vote for Trump or else."

The messages indicated that they came from the right-wing Broad Boys group, and showed the address of the group, which pro-civil rights groups classify as "A hate group," according to Sky News.

Examining the messages, which are now being investigated by federal authorities, reveals that they were sent via servers outside the United States, raising questions about their source, amid fears of voter intimidation just two weeks before Election Days scheduled for November 3.

[caption id="attachment_161392" align="aligncenter" width="628"]Trump, Biden Trump, Biden[/caption]

Some of the messages included the recipients' home addresses, while one of the recipients said that the sender appeared to be relying on outdated information because the address he used had changed.

Alachua's mayor's office said it and the county election supervisor are aware of the e-mails and are working with local and federal law enforcement partners to investigate the source of the message, which the Election Office described as "voter intimidation."

Although there is no indication, yet, that the e-mails were part of a state-sponsored intervention campaign, national security officials warned months ago that the 2020 presidential election was a target for foreign actors, who spread disinformation online.

Those messages bring to mind what is the so-called Russian intervention in the presidential race in 2016.

Enrique Tario, one of the leaders of the "Broad Boys", said that the group had nothing to do with the matter and that he had no knowledge of the identity of those behind the messages.

He added that he had contacted the election supervisor in Alachua, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI.)

It's noteworthy that Trump and his opponent Joe Biden will take part in the final debate within a few hours.