Western Pa. police ready for any election-related shenanigans, as report warns of possible militia violence

As law enforcement in the region plan how to respond to any potential Election Day issues or unrest, along with anything that may arise post-election, a global watchdog on armed conflict warns that Pennsylvania is a state at high risk for militia violence.

Local authorities — mainly at the county level — say they are prepared to respond if needed Tuesday.

“For Election Day itself, our main mission is going to be supporting the elections department,” said Christopher Kearns, assistant superintendent of Allegheny County Police.

That includes providing security and traffic control and assisting with getting ballots to the county’s seven regional reporting centers. They also provide security at the county’s election warehouse.

As for post-election disturbances, Kearns said the department is taking a wait-and-see approach.

“We’ll let the events dictate whether we change (our operational plans),” he said.

He said that while the department has canceled all discretionary days from Nov. 2-8, there are no plans to change schedules in any other way.

Kearns said if there is unrest, the department will go to its civil disturbance plan, which they’ve had ample opportunity to revamp and refine in recent years with protests surrounding the 2018 police shooting of Antwon Rose II in East Pittsburgh and those this year spurred by the killing of George Floyd Jr. in Minnesota.

In Westmoreland County, county authorities are similarly prepared. Sheriff James Albert said deputies in his warrant division will be ready to respond, if necessary.

Those 15 to 20 deputies “will go about their normal, daily duties,” Albert said, “but in the event we’re asked to help out at a poll, we will be prepared to go.”

He said some poll workers expressed concerns about possible trouble Tuesday. The first-term sheriff said he has received no specific information of any threats, but he wants deputies to be ready should anything arise.

“Now, we’re not going to patrol 307 precincts in Westmoreland County, I want to make that clear,” Albert said.

He reiterated that deputies would be available only to assist with any incidents, and arrests would be made by local or state police. State constables will serve as on-site security at polling places.

For municipal police departments, Tuesday likely will be just another day.

John Otto, police chief in Penn Township, noted the vast majority of residents have “always managed to get along regardless of party affiliation in past years, and I believe and hope that will be the case again this year.”

Beyond that, he said, the law is clear: the county is responsible for providing security at polling places, and law enforcement is restricted from being within close proximity. The Pennsylvania Election Code stipulates no on-duty officer can be within 100 feet of a polling place.

“Just because it’s an election day, the burglaries, thefts, domestic situations and the like will still need to be attended to and we will be doing that like we do the other 364 days a year,” Otto said.

Pittsburgh police released few details, saying the department did not want to reveal its operational plan. The bureau will move to 12-hour shifts Nov. 2-8, and all pass days, personal days and holidays will be canceled during that time.

The preparations come after a summer that saw tensions – racial and otherwise – explode across the country, touched off by Floyd’s death by Minneapolis police. In Pittsburgh, protests have ended in tear gas and arrests and a deepening distrust for police and city officials.

Violence warning

A new report from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project warned militias — the Proud Boys, Boogaloo Bois, the Domestic Terrorism Response Organization, and more — have seized upon the political unrest and used it as a recruitment tool.

ACLED collects data on political violence across much of the world, tracking clashes, injuries and fatalities. The report, released jointly with MilitiaWatch and titled “Standing By: Right-Wing Militia Groups and the U.S. Election,” calls militias and other armed groups a “serious threat to the safety and security of American voters.”

The report noted that, for most militias, they talk about violence more than they commit such acts, but some newly formed groups have an ideology of “extreme violence toward communities opposed to their rhetoric.”

In addition to Pennsylvania, the report warned of potential militia action in Georgia, Michigan, Oregon and Wisconsin.

In Pennsylvania, 28 militia organizations are included on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s anti-government movement list. That includes three listed as being in Pittsburgh or Westmoreland County and another 11 operating statewide.

The Civilian Defense Force formed in Pennsylvania over the summer with an “agenda to train American civilians for potential combat,” according to the report. Also newly formed, the Mountain Top Watch Militia outside Scranton held a recruitment event in late September.

“Ahead of the election, right-wing militia activity has been dominated by reactions to recent social justice activism like the Black Lives Matter movement, public health restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and other perceived threats to the ‘liberty’ and ‘freedoms’ of these groups,” the 31-page report noted.

That includes several events in Pennsylvania this year. Armed militia members reportedly stood watch over demonstrations in Elizabethtown, Gettysburg, Manheim, Mifflintown and Wyomissing, according to the report.