In recent days, federal law enforcement agents across the government received a jarring communication from the Justice Department: a warning they could be prosecuted under a Civil War-era law if they respond to an election polling place with guns, even for a fake report of a crime.
The memo from Corey R. Amundson, the chief of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section that oversees election crimes, was dated Oct. 15 and states it was prompted by inquiries about how the government might respond to Election Day violence.
It was brought to the attention of Just the News by a senior law enforcement official and confirmed by multiple federal agents, some who said their immediate bosses offered additional guidance.
“In our role overseeing federal prosecutorial efforts against election crime, the Public Integrity Section, through our Election Crimes Branch, has received inquiries about the legality of having armed federal law enforcement agents at polling places,” Amundson wrote. “Given the potential relevance of this issue to federal law enforcement agencies and the Department of Defense. we thought it prudent to bring to your attention Title 18, United States Code, Section 592.”
“This statute — which has been on existence since 1864 — makes it a felony for a federal official to send armed personnel to an operational polling place for crowd control or other purposes,” the memo added.
DOJ officials and retired agents told Just the News similar communications about the Civil War-era law have been sent out in prior elections, but this year’s memo has gotten more attention internally because of a recent Election Day ISIS terror plot that was thwarted a few weeks ago in Oklahoma and more recent fire bombings of ballot collection boxes in the Northwest.
The current memo cautioned agents that bad actors might try to trick agents into an armed respond to a polling place with a false report of violence.
Hellbound and Down 