This election was already contentious. But now it’s getting dangerous.
Because a terrorist attack on US voters left the entire nation reeling.
An unknown arsonist in the Pacific Northwest set fire to three voting boxes, which contained incendiary devices labeled “Free Gaza”.
On Oct. 28, an unknown person set fire to a Vancouver, Washington, ballot box, destroying an unknown number of ballots and damaging over 500 others.
The suspect or suspects who set fire to the Vancouver vote box with incendiary devices have been linked to two other fires that damaged a ballot box in Portland, Oregon, on Monday, as well as an Oct. 8 fire at another ballot drop box in Vancouver.
“There was enough evidence collected at all three scenes that lead us to believe that all three incidents are connected, and we cannot get into more detail,” Mike Benner, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, said following the two latest arson attacks on Monday.
According to the New York Times, all three incendiary devices had a pro-Gaza message.
The New York Post also stated that a note reading “ALL DROP BOXES WILL BURN. FREE GAZA” was discovered at the site of the Vancouver ballot box fire on Monday.
The attack on election security in Portland and Washington by a suspect who appears to be a pro-Palestinian activist comes after years of radical agitation in both locations.
During the Black Lives Matter marches, leftists in Portland erupted in riots over a “summer of rage” that included looting and vandalism.
Similar riots erupted in Washington, with BLM supporters seizing control of several blocks in Seattle and establishing them as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or “Chaz.”
The riots killed several people in Washington and Portland.
Following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 civilians, the region has experienced renewed turmoil.
Pro-Palestinian activists set up encampments at many universities to protest Israel’s attack in Gaza, with tense protests at the University of Washington and Portland State University turning violent.
Authorities have yet to catch the person who destroyed the vote boxes in Vancouver and Portland, and it is unknown whether they were an anti-Israel protester.
Officials are examining the event to see if the mystery arsonist inscribed “Free Gaza” on the incendiary devices to foment dissent before confirming the offender was a pro-Palestinian activist, according to New York Times reports.
Meanwhile, Portland Police Bureau Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan stated during a news conference Monday that the fires are “targeted” and voiced concern that they are “trying to impact the election process.”
The FBI’s Seattle branch is investigating the arson attacks.
Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.
