State authorities are investigating a fight that occurred at an early voting location in Orangeburg, South Carolina, between a white male and a Black woman.
A now-viral video captured the moments leading up to a physical altercation between Black poll workers and a man identified by authorities as Mark Morris. The incident unfolded when the poll workers asked Morris to remove his hat, which featured the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon,” a slogan that is reportedly a conservative euphemism for “F— Joe Biden,” WSTV reports.
South Carolina law limits what people can wear when voting, prohibiting attire that displays a political party, candidate’s name, or ballot issue.
After being asked to take off his hat, Morris was heard yelling explicit insults, referring to a poll worker as a “f*** b,” before ripping off the hat, flipping it around, and telling another poll worker that it was his “mother f**** right” to wear it. He then yelled at the poll workers, demanding they “shut the hell up and let me vote.”
The video then shows, another poll worker, identified by authorities as Angela Buchannon-Glover, step in attempting to diffuse the situation and could be heard saying, “We ain’t got nothing else to say and we’re going to move on.”
While exchanging words with Buchannon-Glover, Morris removes his hat and tosses it into the hallway before turning back toward Buchannon-Glover and pointing his finger in her face. Buchannon-Glover became irate and made physical contact with Morris. That’s when poll workers rushed to stop Morris from attempting to hit Buchannon-Glover.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating the fight as early voting continues until Nov 2. The video garnered strong responses on social media from viewers who called out Morris’s behavior.
“This guy should be charged with election tampering and voter intimidation,” one person tweeted.
“Sickening. I hope that he was arrested. You cannot wear political clothing into a polling place. Just like you cannot have any political signs or party operatives within 150ft of the entrance to a polling place,” added someone else.
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