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New Jersey CWAer Charges Election Day Assault
A CWA shop steward who was campaigning for Democrats on Election Day in northeast New Jersey was shoved and threatened by two armed men he has identified as sheriff's deputies, charges that federal authorities are investigating.
Al Vigorita of Local 1081 in Paterson, N.J. said the men jumped out of a pickup truck and confronted him while he was handing out campaign materials near a fire station doubling as a polling place the morning of Nov. 2.
"They were in plainclothes, but I could see their guns," Vigorita said. "One of them starts pushing on me, challenging me, poking me in the chest. The other guy knocked the palm cards out of my hand. He said if he came back and I was still here, that he was going to kill me."
Vigorita said he was at least 100 feet from the polling place, the distance required by law for campaign workers. But the men screamed profanities at him and told him he had to be 200 feet away.
Vigorita and other union members were campaigning for candidates for the town council and the county freeholders, the county's governing body. The freeholders succeeded in holding onto a Democratic majority, but not without a fight.
"The whole election was kind of nasty," Vigorita said. "They (Republicans) were ripping signs down. And the tone was very racial. One of our candidates was African American, and they were making fun of her."
Shaken but physically okay after the assault, Vigorita called Paterson city police and said he suspected the men were in law enforcement, noting the guns he saw.
Vigorita, a social worker employed by Passiac County, picked out his assailants from photographs that authorities showed him of deputies working for Passiac County Sheriff Ed Englehardt, a Republican, who has held office for 26 years. Although the sheriff's office is reportedly looking into the matter, Vigorita said no one from internal affairs has taken a statement from him. "Their attitude is that this is garbage, that it's bogus."
But the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI are investigating, and agents interviewed Vigorita in person for nearly an hour. David Weiner, president of Local 1081, said the union hasn't heard anything more from the government, but isn't discouraged. "I know the feds work very slowly, very deliberately," he said. "I'm glad they're showing an interest."
Vigorita wasn't the only victim Election Day. Another Democratic volunteer was removing campaign signs from his car in the Passiac County town of Clifton when a man punched him in the head and screamed profanities and threats. The attacker and an accomplice scuffled with two other men who came to the victim's aid, then ran off before police arrived. Based on witness accounts, Clifton police believe the assailants may have been sheriff's deputies, according to news reports.
Accusations of law officers and others harassing and intimidating Democratic voters and campaign workers at the polls are nothing new in Passiac County. According to the local newspaper, Justice Department officials were already monitoring the Nov. 2 election because minority residents charged that they continually had been dissuaded from voting.
"It smacks of fascism," Weiner said, of the ongoing and Election Day problems. "If people are being intimidated and coerced to vote a certain way, our entire system is being compromised. The full weight of the law should be brought to bear upon the people responsible."
Al Vigorita of Local 1081 in Paterson, N.J. said the men jumped out of a pickup truck and confronted him while he was handing out campaign materials near a fire station doubling as a polling place the morning of Nov. 2.
"They were in plainclothes, but I could see their guns," Vigorita said. "One of them starts pushing on me, challenging me, poking me in the chest. The other guy knocked the palm cards out of my hand. He said if he came back and I was still here, that he was going to kill me."
Vigorita said he was at least 100 feet from the polling place, the distance required by law for campaign workers. But the men screamed profanities at him and told him he had to be 200 feet away.
Vigorita and other union members were campaigning for candidates for the town council and the county freeholders, the county's governing body. The freeholders succeeded in holding onto a Democratic majority, but not without a fight.
"The whole election was kind of nasty," Vigorita said. "They (Republicans) were ripping signs down. And the tone was very racial. One of our candidates was African American, and they were making fun of her."
Shaken but physically okay after the assault, Vigorita called Paterson city police and said he suspected the men were in law enforcement, noting the guns he saw.
Vigorita, a social worker employed by Passiac County, picked out his assailants from photographs that authorities showed him of deputies working for Passiac County Sheriff Ed Englehardt, a Republican, who has held office for 26 years. Although the sheriff's office is reportedly looking into the matter, Vigorita said no one from internal affairs has taken a statement from him. "Their attitude is that this is garbage, that it's bogus."
But the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI are investigating, and agents interviewed Vigorita in person for nearly an hour. David Weiner, president of Local 1081, said the union hasn't heard anything more from the government, but isn't discouraged. "I know the feds work very slowly, very deliberately," he said. "I'm glad they're showing an interest."
Vigorita wasn't the only victim Election Day. Another Democratic volunteer was removing campaign signs from his car in the Passiac County town of Clifton when a man punched him in the head and screamed profanities and threats. The attacker and an accomplice scuffled with two other men who came to the victim's aid, then ran off before police arrived. Based on witness accounts, Clifton police believe the assailants may have been sheriff's deputies, according to news reports.
Accusations of law officers and others harassing and intimidating Democratic voters and campaign workers at the polls are nothing new in Passiac County. According to the local newspaper, Justice Department officials were already monitoring the Nov. 2 election because minority residents charged that they continually had been dissuaded from voting.
"It smacks of fascism," Weiner said, of the ongoing and Election Day problems. "If people are being intimidated and coerced to vote a certain way, our entire system is being compromised. The full weight of the law should be brought to bear upon the people responsible."