Feb. 10 (UPI) — Police in Florida have arrested and charged a 27-year-old Jacksonville man after he intentionally drove his van into a tent where Republican volunteers were registering voters for the upcoming presidential election, authorities said Sunday.
Gregory William Loel Timm has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault of a person 65 years of age or older, criminal mischief and driving on a suspended license, according to arrest records from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Department of Corrections.
A Duval County judge on Sunday set his bond at $500,000.
The Republican Party of Duval County said its volunteers were registering people to vote Saturday when at around 2:45 p.m. a brown and gold van accelerated into volunteers at a tent in a shopping center parking lot. No one was injured, the party said.
The driver then allegedly sped away while making an “obscene gesture toward the crowd.”
“We are outraged by this senseless act of violence toward our great volunteers,” said Duval GOP Chairman Dean Black. “The Republican Party of Duval County will not be intimidated by these cowards and we will not be silenced.”
The Republican Party described the incident as a “targeted” attack against six President Donald Trump campaign volunteers.
Trump warned other “tough guys” in a tweet to be careful with “who you play with!”
GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a statement said, “these unprovoked, senseless attacks on [Trump] supporters need to end.”
The Duval County Democratic Party also condemned the incident in a statement.
“No one’s life should be placed in danger for exercising their first amendment rights,” it said in a statement. “As Democrats but more importantly residents of this great city of Jacksonville, we call on our fellow citizens to act with dignity, civility and respect for one another during this election cycle and beyond.”
