President Donald Trump's reelection campaign and the Minneapolis Police Union are putting out a call to retired officers to keep an eye on Minneapolis polling locations, according to an email obtained by the Star Tribune.
The report indicates than an email asked MPD Federation president Lt. Bob Kroll to put out a call this week for retired officers. Those officers would serve as "eyes and ears" at polling sites in "problem" areas across the city on November 3.
According to the Star Tribune, the email, which has not been reviewed by WCCO Radio, was sent by William Willingham who claims to be a senior legal adviser and director of Election Day operations for the Trump campaign.
It asks Kroll to recruit 20 to 30 former officers to serve as "poll challengers" to work either four, or eight hour shifts in a "problem area" of Minneapolis.
In the original report, the email's quoted as saying, "Poll Challengers do not ‘stop’ people, per se, but act as our eyes and ears in the field and call our hotline to document fraud. We don’t necessarily want our Poll Challengers to look intimidating, they cannot carry a weapon in the polls due to state law. … We just want people who won’t be afraid in rough neighborhoods or intimidating situations.”
Minneapolis Police chief Medaria Arradondo issued a statement Wednesday night following the report, but did not specifically mention e-mail or request made to Kroll.
Arradondo writes, "The men and women of the Minneapolis Police Department have taken a solemn oath to protect the Constitutional rights of all without favor or bias. We will remain apolitical in our service and our department policies and values apply to us whether we are on or off duty. We are focused singularly on protecting our residents most sacred democratic right - the right to safely cast their ballot without intimidation or interference."
Arradondo adds that if anyone experiences any kind of interference or intimidation in voting or attempting to vote, they should call the Minnesota Secretary of State's office at 877-600-VOTE.
