An 18-year-old Donald Trump supporter is facing a felony charge after police say he threatened two Kamala Harris supporters with a two-foot (60-centimeter) machete as they campaigned outside a Florida early voting site.
Caleb James Williams is charged with felony aggravated assault on a person 65 or older and misdemeanor exhibition of a dangerous weapon, Neptune Beach police records show.
Police Chief Michael Key Jr. said Williams and seven 16- and 17-year-olds drove to a suburban Jacksonville library Tuesday afternoon specifically ''to protest and antagonize the opposing political side.'' Carrying Trump flags, they began yelling at a group of Harris supporters and that escalated.
Key displayed a photo taken by a witness of a smiling Williams ''brandishing a machete in an aggressive, threatening posture over his head.'' The Harris supporters he allegedly threatened are women aged 71 and 54.
''This goes way beyond expressing freedom of speech. To say your piece is your First Amendment protected right, but that goes out the window the moment you raise a machete over your head,'' Key said. Neptune Beach is an upscale suburb of 7,000 residents with a median income of $110,000, according to census records.
Williams, a restaurant busboy, was being held Wednesday afternoon at the Duval County Jail on $55,000 bail after making his first court appearance. If the registered Republican is released, the judge ordered him to stay 1,000 feet (300 meters) from any polling place except to cast his own ballot and to wear an ankle monitor.
Duval Public Defender Charlie Cofer, whose office has been assigned Williams' case, declined to comment. Williams' father did not return messages left on his cellphone. The minimum sentence for aggravated assault on a senior in Florida is three years in prison. The maximum is 15.
Key said the seven juveniles with Williams did not appear to have committed any crimes, but the investigation is ongoing.
