Florida Deputies to Add Security After Armed Men Appear at Polling Site
Law enforcement officials in St. Petersburg, Florida, said Thursday that they would station deputies at five early voting sites as a precaution, the day after two armed men dressed as security guards were seen at a campaign tent outside a polling station.
The men told a law enforcement official that they had been hired by the Trump campaign to provide security, said Deputy Chuck Skipper of the Pinellas County sheriff’s office. But the county sheriff, Bob Gualtieri, said that he had “absolutely no confirmation” that the men were hired by the campaign. The men said they were guards for a Florida-based security company, Gualtieri said.
Thea McDonald, a spokeswoman for President Donald Trump’s campaign, said in a statement, “The campaign did not hire these individuals nor did the campaign direct them to go to the voting location.”
The men’s presence came at a time of tension and fears of unrest at the polls following the Trump campaign’s promise to send “an army” of poll watchers to voting sites. During the first presidential debate, Trump urged supporters to “go into the polls and watch very carefully.”
https://news.yahoo.com/florida-deputies-add-security-armed-120857135.html
