A case of alleged voter intimidation escalated to a conspiracy charge and more after a man in Miami showed up at a polling place wearing an “ICE raid jacket.”
(Video Credit: NBC 6 South Florida)
At the same time amnesty proponents have claimed non-citizens aren’t voting, they’ve been drumming up concerns that federal immigration enforcement will be dispatched to the polls as a means to suppress the vote. Sunday, those concerns manifested in a farce when a man was spotted prowling about Miami Dade College’s Kendall Campus dressed as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent while Brazilian nationals gathered to vote in their presidential election.
According to the arrest report, 46-year-old Danilo Alves Silva donned an outfit purchased from Amazon comprised of an ICE hat, jeans, sunglasses, “tactical” boots, and an “ICE raid jacket” while his face was covered with a mask.
“The people were gathered and were clearly in fear that, as they portrayed it, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE agent was interfering with their election, possibly deporting individuals,” read the report that explained law enforcement stepped in after someone said to have been filming Silva confronted the man.
Silva was said to be a Brazilian himself and had already voted before he put on the outfit and began purposefully walking about the area. Following the arrest, he told authorities he donned the garb “so that I can come here to see people’s reactions.”
“He further stated that there is no law against him walking around a voting site dressed as ICE,” the report detailed.
The alleged intimidation wasn’t all Silva was accused of, as he was also said to have threatened a detective, saying, “He will regret making this decision,” and told law enforcement as he was being brought in, “I will get you paid if you let me go.”
As a result, the man’s charges included prohibited intimidation or suppression of voters, conspiracy to commit bribery, threatening a public servant to influence their performance, and unlawful use of a police badge or insignia.
While appearing before the judge, Silva’s defense attempted to make a case that anyone who purchased and wore the same outfit from Amazon would be guilty of a crime, to which the judge contended Halloween was on October 31 and not during the Brazilian election.
What presents as frightening to illegal aliens and their allies has been something some on the right have rallied behind. As previously reported, while commentator Steve Bannon and Article III Project founder Mike Davis called for ICE to be at polling places, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reminded on CNN’s “State of the Union” that ICE agents would be present if there is a “threat” and “why would ICE be there? Because the only people who should be voting there are American citizens. There shouldn’t be any immigration enforcement.”
Meanwhile, Miami-Dade County’s supervisor of elections Alina Garcia told reporters this week that federal immigration enforcement would not be allowed inside polling places. “Do not let fear, rumors or misinformation keep you from participating in your democracy.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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