{"id":62,"date":"2016-10-30T21:19:49","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T01:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/?page_id=62"},"modified":"2016-11-03T15:23:45","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T19:23:45","slug":"trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump calls for Election Day vigilance, but Philadelphians are not intimidated"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Cassidy Morrison<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite Donald Trump\u2019s call on supporters to police the polls on Election Day, many Philadelphians remain eager to cast their ballots in the most divisive campaign in recent history.<\/p>\n

Cameron Kline, communications spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney\u2019s Office, asserted that the likelihood of violence breaking out is low, but they are prepared for the worst.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that I hope it doesn\u2019t happen, if it does happen it\u2019s something that we are prepared to deal with,\u201d Kline said. \u201cI hope no one is intimidated or deterred from casting their vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many Philadelphians, it turns out, are not intimidated. Rather, they feel even more compelled to make their voices heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to vote,\u201d said Tyronna Jackson, 47, of Germantown. \u201cTrump is a chump. He is not for us. If anybody is going to take his advice to intimidate people not to vote, that\u2019s crazy. Nobody should be able to intimidate you about doing something good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has indulged in an increased climate of hostility in his most recent rallies.<\/p>\n

Trump encouraged his supporters in Altoona <\/a>to, \u201cDon’t just vote on the 8th, but go around and look and watch other polling places and make sure it is 100 percent fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in Colorado Springs he took aim at Philadelphia voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cVoter fraud is all too common, and then they criticize us for saying that,\u201d Trump said at a rally in Colorado Springs. \u201cBut take a look at Philadelphia, what\u2019s been going on, take a look at Chicago, take a look at St. Louis. Take a look at some of these cities, where you see things happening that are horrendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, and more ominously, Trump sounded yet another dog whistle at his Akron, Ohio rally just 10 days later, implying that just being vigilant of voter fraud may not suffice.<\/p>\n

He told his supporters<\/a>, \u201cYou’ve got to get every one of your friends. You’ve got to get every one of your family. You’ve got to get everybody to go out and watch. And when I say watch, you know what I’m talking about, right? You know what I’m taking about. I think you got to go out and you got to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2016-10-30-at-8-34-02-pm\"<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Trump supporters could feasibly follow Trump\u2019s call to arms. While Pennsylvania requires that people have a permit to carry a concealed weapon on their person, the process of attaining such a permit is simple, requiring only an application and a background check.<\/p>\n

Despite the apparent ease of bringing a weapon close to the polls, Kline does not predict violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat law is a law that we live with 365 days out of the year,\u201d he said. \u201cIt odes not change our approach to what we\u2019ll do on the 8th.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kline said that most of the calls that reach the district attorney\u2019s office do not pertain to jeering voters spewing hate speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a call were to come in from whatever ward or division that warrants us taking action with an assistant district attorney or a detective, we will certainly do that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut usually a lot of the stuff is smaller issues. In the morning, a lot of the issues are logistic problems, getting the polling place up and running, sometimes machines don\u2019t work, sometimes they\u2019re not set up, we get calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philadelphia police and the DA\u2019s office have a plan in the rare event that something does go amiss. Kline described the District Attorney\u2019s Task Force with units placed all over Philadelphia to do exactly what Trump asked from his supporters: to keep things \u201con the up and up\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore the polls open on the 8th, assistant district attorneys and assigned detectives, about two dozen of those, and about 70 ADAs are part of the Election Front Task Force,\u201d Kline said.\u201d We will deploy some of those resources throughout the city, we know there are areas that are typically busier than others, are more contentious than others. We think we\u2019ve staffed appropriately already.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philadelphia city officials are not the only ones who want to quell people\u2019s fears about going to the polls. People for the American Way (PFAW), a Washington, D.C. voting advocacy group, views Trump\u2019s language solely as fear-mongering rhetoric lacking in data to back up his claims that this election is as rigged as he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about the rhetoric from Trump about voter fraud and whether the elections are rigged, but the Republican officials are actually saying that the election process is a fair process and that they\u2019re not rigged against any particular candidate,\u201d said Diallo Brooks, a PFAW spokesperson. They have no evidence at that happening. It plays on folks\u2019 emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daisy Walden, 79, was one of the few Germantown residents during a recent visit, who admitted she felt fearful about going to her polling place, but that will not stop her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will definitely go out there on November 8th,\u201d Walden said fiercely from the front steps of her home.<\/p>\n

Many others in her community do not echo Walden\u2019s feelings of intimidation. In Germantown and Nicetown, two predominantly African American neighborhoods in Northwest Philadelphia, large signs dot various front yards with \u201cVote!\u201d across them in large lettering. Few have candidates\u2019 names on them. The emphasis is on exercising one\u2019s civic duty, the constitutional right to vote.<\/p>\n

Patrick Christmas, the policy program manager at Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based nonpartisan government advocacy group, conceded that this fear rhetoric is unprecedented, yet invalid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never had a presidential candidate ever suggest that the election is rigged for starters, which is a huge problem, and then also suggest to folks that thy need to take it upon themselves to be vigilant poll watchers at best and vigilantes at worst,\u201d Christmas said. \u201cAt any political rally you\u2019re there to get people all ginned up, how many people actually act on what they\u2019re being told is another question, worst case we could see, whether it\u2019s in Pennsylvania or anywhere else in the country, a few folks who take it upon themselves to see that rules are followed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Risk of violence notwithstanding, some Philadelphians plan to vote despite feeling disillusioned with this year\u2019s major candidates. Crystal Johnson, 54, of Nicetown expressed bitterness about seemingly halfhearted attempts by candidates to connect with their constituents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t see or hear from politicians until it\u2019s election time,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I think deterred a lot of people. A lot of people go to vote because they\u2019re Democrat or Republican, but they don\u2019t know a lot about the politicians because we don\u2019t see much from the politicians until it\u2019s time to vote, because they want that vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Germantown\u2019s Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church, Deacon Randy Dockery comfortably spoke for his congregation about their enthusiasm for Election Day. Neither he nor his congregation felt deterred by the fear rhetoric permeating this election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would assume there is quite a population that would be scared. I\u2019m not myself,\u201d said Dockery. \u201cThat\u2019s nonsense what he is spitting out. But people have to go out and vote. We\u2019re coming out in Philadelphia. We\u2019re putting out flyers and we\u2019re all going out on the 8th straight down the line Democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dockery said his community has confidence in the DA\u2019s efforts to protect their right right to vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is intimidated that it\u2019ll get out of hand, that they can\u2019t go out and vote,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Crystal

Crystal Johnson, 54 of Nicetown, says she will vote despite a risk of intimidation: “You can\u2019t let people treat you any old kind of way. That\u2019s your civil right, to go vote.” Photo by Cassidy Morrison<\/p><\/div>\n

Like many of her neighbors in Nicetown, Johnson, will proudly cast her vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have to go with somebody, you go with somebody,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cYou need to protect yourself. You can\u2019t let people treat you any old kind of way. That\u2019s your civil right, to go vote. Me personally, I don\u2019t feel threatened. I\u2019ve been watching but I\u2019ve been blocking out things that have been said because I know in my heart what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Cassidy Morrison Despite Donald Trump\u2019s call on supporters to police the polls on Election Day, many Philadelphians remain eager to cast their ballots in the most divisive campaign in recent history. Cameron Kline, communications spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney\u2019s Office, asserted that the likelihood of violence breaking out is low, but they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":81,"parent":11,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump calls for Election Day vigilance, but Philadelphians are not intimidated - Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump calls for Election Day vigilance, but Philadelphians are not intimidated - Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Cassidy Morrison Despite Donald Trump\u2019s call on supporters to police the polls on Election Day, many Philadelphians remain eager to cast their ballots in the most divisive campaign in recent history. Cameron Kline, communications spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney\u2019s Office, asserted that the likelihood of violence breaking out is low, but they are […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-03T19:23:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2016\/10\/30587031741_fa652b790f_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"334\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/\",\"name\":\"Trump calls for Election Day vigilance, but Philadelphians are not intimidated - Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-31T01:19:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-03T19:23:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Election 2016: Philadelphia\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Trump calls for Election Day vigilance, but Philadelphians are not intimidated\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/\",\"name\":\"Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump calls for Election Day vigilance, but Philadelphians are not intimidated - Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump calls for Election Day vigilance, but Philadelphians are not intimidated - Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania","og_description":"By Cassidy Morrison Despite Donald Trump\u2019s call on supporters to police the polls on Election Day, many Philadelphians remain eager to cast their ballots in the most divisive campaign in recent history. Cameron Kline, communications spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney\u2019s Office, asserted that the likelihood of violence breaking out is low, but they are […]","og_url":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/","og_site_name":"Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania","article_modified_time":"2016-11-03T19:23:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":334,"url":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2016\/10\/30587031741_fa652b790f_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/","url":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/","name":"Trump calls for Election Day vigilance, but Philadelphians are not intimidated - Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-10-31T01:19:49+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-03T19:23:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/trump-calls-election-day-vigilance-philadelphians-not-intimidated\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Election 2016: Philadelphia","item":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/philadelphia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Trump calls for Election Day vigilance, but Philadelphians are not intimidated"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/#website","url":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/","name":"Election 2016: The State of Pennsylvania","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324,"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62\/revisions\/324"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/stateofpa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}