Security company that sought ex-Special Forces to guard Minnesota polls agrees to stay out of state, AG says

By Derek Hawkins
10/24/2020, 11:41:12 a.m.

A private security company that tried to recruit former U.S. military Special Operations personnel to guard polling sites in Minnesota on Election Day agreed Friday to cancel its plans following an investigation by Attorney General Keith Ellison, who warned the effort would amount to voter intimidation.

In a settlement announced by Ellison, the company, Atlas Aegis, said it would not provide security services in the state from now through Jan. 1, 2022. The Tennessee-based company also pledged that it would not seek to intimidate voters in connection with the election.

“Minnesota and federal law are clear: it is strictly illegal to intimidate or interfere with voters," Ellison said in a statement. “I want to make it crystal clear to anyone who is even thinking about intimidating voters that I will not hesitate to enforce the laws against it to the fullest extent."

Atlas Aegis didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday morning.

The agreement highlights a core concern for civil rights organizations and many state officials going into Election Day: that private groups, some of them fueled by President Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about election fraud, may show up armed at polling locations and frighten voters.

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