A Texas man is facing a felony charge after punching an elderly poll worker who told him to remove his "Make America Great Again" hat while at an early voting site.
The incident occurred Thursday after the man, identified as Jesse Lutzenberger in the incident report, walked into the Johnston Branch Library with who Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar presumed to be his wife. That's when the poll worker first asked Lutzenberger to remove his hat, which the report confirmed to be a "red 'MAGA' or Donald Trump" baseball cap.
Salazar said during a news briefing shared on Facebook on Friday that Lutzenberger initially complied and voted. But after, he put the hat back on while still in the building.
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The sheriff said the poll worker, who was not named in the report, then reminded Lutzenberger that it's illegal to wear anything related to a political candidate who is on the ballot while at a polling place under electioneering laws and began to escort the suspect out.
While the two were walking to the exit, Salazar said security footage showed the Lutzenberger appearing to "throw an arm back" toward the 69-year-old poll worker, but it was unclear if this caused a connection. The sheriff said the victim then seemed to "push off" the suspect, but then, the suspect turned and threw "several" punches at the poll worker's face.
Authorities were called to the library after the incident and took a report from the victim, which led them to track Lutzenberger to a residence. Salazar said the suspect walked out of the residence and said, "I'm the person you're looking for."
Lutzenberger, who Salazar described as a "larger man" in his early 60s, was taken downtown for questioning and booked on a third-degree felony charge of injury to an elderly person. The victim, Salazar said, has "marks" to his face, but they are non-life-threatening.
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A Scripps News/Ipsos poll last week found 62% of respondents say violence related to this election is "somewhat" or "very likely." More than half even said they would support using the U.S. military to prevent potential threats around Election Day.
While speaking to reporters, Salazar said he "couldn't think of anything like this happening" during his time on the job and that he "certainly" doesn't want to see a violent incident like it again. He said he hopes the moment can serve as a reminder to Americans that violence, particularly during the election season, is uncalled for.
"Everybody's going to survive this, but I'm just using this as an opportunity to try to bring down the tone of what's going on out there," Salazar said. "Look, nothing here is worth getting hurt for, going to jail for. This election is going to happen one way or another. In any particular race, one side's gonna win, one side's gonna lose... But there's no sense picking up a criminal case, picking up a criminal history, or injuring or even killing somebody in the name of politics."
Each state has some type of law forbidding political activities near active polling sites, but Texas is one of 21 states that prohibits campaign apparel, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
More specifically, the Texas Secretary of State's website says "a person may not wear apparel or a similar communicative device relating to a candidate, measure, or political party appearing on the ballot in the current election." The site also states that the voting clerk can have the "authority of a district judge" while serving in this position to "use his or her discretion to ensure the safety and efficiency of the early voting and election day polling place and the surrounding 100-foot area."
