• givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      Last time I voted cops were talking to a guy in a red hat outside, but everyone was chill and they were laughing and joking so I didn’t pay attention.

      Everyone inside, totally on edge.

      I found out later that guy had taken his shirt off and yelled at poll workers which was especially problematic because he had a loaded gun tucked into his pants. No holster and I’m not even sure he had a belt.

      He might be there next time too, just in uniform.

      I don’t give a fuck, because I know what happened in the South when people caved to that kind of voter intimidation. I’m casting a ballet even if there’s bullets actively being fired at the polling location.

      All this shit does is make voting more important, that’s how we need to frame it.

      • lectricleopard@lemmy.world
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        13 days ago

        Im considering finding a local polling location where I can stand watch and gather other like minded people so there are more of us than them there. They will be the intimidated, they are the minority.

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          13 days ago

          Great spirit, terrible idea.

          You won’t make anyone feel more comfortable, you’ll just make things crowded and chaotic.

          The only reason anyone should be at a polling location is casting a vote.

          You want to group up somewhere and show support, do it a block away within eyesight. Have signs and shit about how voting matters now more than ever.

          Chances are ICE will come fuck with you anyways, which is still a win because then they’re not at the polling station either.

          • keckbug@lemmy.world
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            13 days ago

            Hi, poll worker here and this is absolutely accurate. If you stand in or near our polling place we will absolutely have you removed.

            However… observing polls is a core part of a functional democracy and I strongly encourage you to do so. Each county is a bit different, but essentially every single one of them have some sort of process that you can register as an observer and you’ll be legally protected while observing and documenting what you see. If you’re affiliated with a political party, contact your local officials and they can help facilitate, as most observers are party affiliated.

            • lectricleopard@lemmy.world
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              13 days ago

              Excellent. Thank you. This is what we need to know. We just need to have sufficient numbers of people doing legal observation at the right places.

    • baller_w@lemmy.zip
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      13 days ago

      Right. Show up and do the needful.

      I’ve seen armed “guards” and my polling station before and it’s unsettling to say the least.

      Say no words. Just vote.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      Armed EVERYONE, panthers, housewives, mechanics, trans teens, latino families, truckers, the entire Village People stereotypical grouping, should be there armed and handing out cookies and coffee and making sure our communities are safe and that everyone, no matter their politics or identity or race or background has their say at the polls.

      There are presently about 22,000 ICE agents. There will be somewhere around 100,000 polling stations in the US. Their math for “surrounding all polling stations” just isn’t working out.

    • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      Yup.

      Saw a video a week or two ago. Cops roll up. Group of Black Panthers are heavily armed on a public sidewalk. The cops tell them to leave. They say “no”. The cops leave.

      It’s a whole hell of a lot harder to oppress people who are heavily armed and in groups.

      • ameancow@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        I rather see the Rainbow Coalition ride again, let’s take specific colors off the agenda.

        Surely the FBI won’t sabotage them again this time around.

        Surely.

  • Bob Robertson IX @discuss.tchncs.de
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    13 days ago

    I know that the Black Panthers have a history of protecting polls while armed, but perhaps it’s time we allow people of all colors to be armed and protecting the polls.

    There’s a lot more of us than there are of ICE.

    • lectricleopard@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      Someone pointed out in another thread that schools and govt buildings where polling stations are already dont permit guns. But if ther are 50 of us there, the 10 of them they can muster will run like the cowards they are.

      • atlasquill892@lemmy.world
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        13 days ago

        That’s the issue with the government’s monopoly on violence here. It’s okay if they bring their guns to terrorize people, but it’s not okay for ordinary people to protect others.

  • BigMacHole@sopuli.xyz
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    13 days ago

    Trump wants ICE to THREATEN NON REPUBLICAN VOTERS WITH GUNS? Wow! They probably need a LOT of Funding for That! Let’s give it to Them!

    -Democrats Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries!

    • zbyte64@awful.systems
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      12 days ago

      “Be sure to give them body cams so the destruction of the constitution will be well documented” - feckless Dems

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    Simple.

    Everyone shows up to the polls heavily armed and stays until everyone has voted.

    Actually, not even everyone has to be armed. Just enough to form a group. Do not try this on your own. Totally safe if you’re in a group that’s packing though. They’re cowards. They’re only going to mess with people who can’t defend themselves.

    • n4ch1sm0@piefed.social
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      13 days ago

      Truly the most accurate comparison to ICE on paper. Schutzstaffel (SS) is the one everyone knows about and for practical reasons in the public eye, it’s a good analogy, but it’d be beneficial for people be aware of Sturmabteilung (SA), because the SS were far worse following the Nazi party’s truly solidifying grip on power. History really does rhyme.

      • Akasazh@lemmy.world
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        13 days ago

        Also the SA where mostly thugs, like ICE. Only thing Hitler did far better was to praise them and stand behind them. Bovino was basically sacrificed without any honor (nor was he deserving), but Hitler made national monuments to the goons who died and memorialized them in song.

        Until the night of the long knives, ofc, then he quite literally stabbed them in the back.

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    I’m calling it: they’re going to have Palantir set them up with a database of likely Democrat voters paired with facial recognition and detain everyone who is a positive match on their way to the polls until the polling station closes.

    And then they’ll have the mail-in votes thrown out.

    • bearboiblake@pawb.social
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      13 days ago

      I doubt facial recognition technology works well enough for that to be feasible, I think facial recognition technology using just cameras, esp. without high quality photos, is a bit like the polygraph/lie detector, it can give you some bullshit grounds to subject people to additional scrutiny basically on a whim, but has little practical application

  • klay1@lemmy.world
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    12 days ago

    When Hitler was choosing his cabinet, he made Göhring Minister of the interior, which was head of the police. Then they put their SS inside of the Reichstag, when they cast the vote if Hitler should have absolute power (for a limited time, to solve a fake issue). The police, now under Göhring, didn’t stop them. The SS stood everywhere, shouting Nazi paroles and threatening the Reichstag-members to apply violence if the vote does not come out their way. Back then in the Reichstag, voting wasn’t anonymous. The deed was done. Some brave leftists still openly said they cannot vote yes, many were later captured and killed. Hitler obviously just cancelled the limited time part and kept the absolute power.

    Many Germans later regretted, not having fought more, when they saw it all coming.

    Guys, everything was alarming so far. Announcing to have ICE at the polls is even more alarming. You cannot have the Shitler get that far, where it is too late. You must act now!

    Good luck over there, regards from Germany.