(SEOUL, South Korea) — North Korea test-fired six missiles on Thursday, a day after launching its most tests in a single day.
One long-range and two short-range ballistic missiles were tested Thursday morning, South Korean officials said. Tokyo initially said the longer-range ballistic missile had flown over Japan, warning residents of Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures to take shelter. But Japan’s Defense Ministry later said the missile did not fly over Japan.
Authorities said they were still analyzing the details. Analysts suggested that the missile, which flew 472 miles and reached a height of 1,200 miles, was presumably an intercontinental ballistic missile that failed.
Three more short-range ballistic missiles were launched Thursday night, according to the South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff. The missiles were fired toward the eastern seas from North Hwanghae province between 9:35 p.m. and 9:49 p.m. local time.
“We can sense North Korea’s anxiety from recent launches. In fact, these missile launches are a huge burden for their military, especially when North Korea is so economically cut off,” Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University, told ABC News.
The provocations are a typical brinkmanship tactic to either bring the U.S. and South Korea into nuclear talks or a prelude to justifying an imminent seventh nuclear underground test.
“It’s possible to assume that North Korea will decorate the grand finale of its tactic with the seventh nuclear test, and then suggest a deal,” said Park.
The two Koreas test-fired missiles one after another throughout Wednesday in a series of tit-for-tat moves. North Korea fired a total of 23 missiles that were a combination of ballistic and surface-to-air weapons, and 100 artillery shells from various locations toward the east and west. In a retaliatory move, South Korea quickly responded in between by launching its own air-to-surface missiles into a similar area above the NLL, launched by two F-15K and KF-16 jet fighters.
Pyongyang claimed the missile tests are “self-defensive” in nature. Officials called for the U.S. and South Korea to stop their annual joint military drills, which they said were “aggressive and provocative.”
“They are going on a full-scale sprint. Not only are there a variety of missiles, but also a great number of them,” Park added.
Dr. Yang Uk, of Seoul-based Asan Institute, told ABC News that the missile launches are a way to show off Pyongyang’s tactical nuclear capabilities.
“It’s an adamant statement that they will respond with all forces by fully mobilizing all the means they have,” Yang explained.
South Korea’s air force announced Wednesday shortly after North Korea’s ballistic missile provocation, that the joint air drill between the U.S. will be extended. It was originally planned for five days from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.
(NEW YORK) — A man is accused of posing as a Stanford University student and living in at least five different dorms on campus for nearly a year, the university’s newspaper, The Stanford Daily, reported.
William Curry allegedly presented himself as a Stanford student on various social media profiles, including Instagram and a dating app.
“He had a whole Instagram page that many of my friends had already followed, that said he was Stanford class of ’25 … that he transferred from Duke,” student Kacey Logan said.
“He certainly was not a person who was just making do on Stanford’s campus, living off of the excesses,” Theo Baker, a writer at The Stanford Daily, told ABC News. “He was a part of this community. He was living alongside people and very much interacting with them on a day-to-day basis.”
Stanford told ABC News that Curry was cited for violating the law and removed from campus in December 2021. But according to the Daily, he returned several times, each time with a new story.
Stanford said, despite attempts to cite him for trespass, they weren’t able to locate Curry until last week. Curry was caught living in the basement of Stanford’s Crothers Hall last week and was issued a “stay away” order.
When asked by The Stanford Daily what he was doing on campus, Curry said he was “living the normal Stanford life, you know, socializing, you know, meeting people, as you do in college.”
Stanford told ABC News some staff members in dorms where Curry was seen were notified. But Stanford didn’t have a broad communication system in place, which allowed him to move to other locations.
Stanford told ABC News in a statement, “While Stanford has protocols and policies in place to prevent non-students from entering and living in our residences, the unique aspects of this case and Mr. Curry’s persistence and ability to ingratiate himself with our student community have made it clear that gaps exist in those protocols.”
Stanford said it’s reviewing its procedures.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case, but no charges have been filed.
(WASHINGTON) — Despite not being a candidate, Donald Trump is looming large this midterm election cycle, but what difference he’s making won’t be clearer until Election Day or soon after.
The former president’s approval rating among Republicans remains high — even as he faces multiple investigations and the fallout from the Jan. 6 hearings — with 64% of registered GOP voters saying Trump should have a good or great deal of influence over the future direction of the party, according to an ABC News and Ipsos poll.
Trump acolytes appear up and down the ballot in congressional and statewide races, including nearly 200 individuals who support and spread his election denialism.
“Although Donald Trump is not on the ballot this year, the Trump political brand is and it continues to show great durability and effectiveness,” Mark Weaver, a veteran Republican strategist, told ABC News. Trump-backed candidates, Weaver noted, often similarly push back against elites and embrace his off-script, bullying demeanor.
This final campaign week, Trump is holding a blitz of rallies in swing states to fire up the Republican base. He will appear in Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Pennsylvania. And a super PAC backed by Trump has spent at least $8.6 million on ads in battleground states, though the spending hasn’t been nearly as much as other Republican groups have invested this cycle.
Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington told ABC News that Trump’s endorsements are having “an incredible impact on the midterms.”
“Across the country, Republicans have benefited from President Trump’s rallies, financial support, and leadership,” Harrington said.
But will Trump’s impact ultimately help or hurt the GOP?
Trump helped to shape the GOP midterm field during the primaries, and often touts his endorsements at rallies. Now, the question is whether his influence will help or hinder the Republican Party’s chances of taking back control of Congress.
“This is the year we’re going to take back the House,” Trump said at Texas rally in late October. “We’re going to take back the Senate. We’re going to take back America.”
In some cases, Trump’s picks drove more moderate Republican incumbents off the ballot — like Rep. Liz Cheney’s loss to Harriet Hageman in Wyoming, or Kari Lake’s defeat of Karrin Taylor Robson in Arizona’s gubernatorial primary.
And his endorsements haven’t always been celebrated by Republican leadership in their quest to take back control of Congress. Among his more controversial picks are former football star Herschel Walker in Georgia and celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania. Despite encouraging Walker to run for office, clearing the field of any serious Republican challengers, Trump hasn’t set foot in Georgia in this final campaign stretch, while Walker has limited his talk of the former president in as he makes his case to voters.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has questioned the “candidate quality” of some Republicans running as he’s tempered expectations that the GOP will win back control of the chamber. While McConnell didn’t mention Trump or any candidates by name, the former president shot back at McConnell, calling him a “hack politician.”
“A number of Senate candidates in swing states owe their nominations to Donald Trump,” Bill Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, told ABC News. “That’s certainly true in Pennsylvania. It’s true in Arizona. It’s true in Georgia.”
Those three states could ultimately determine which party controls the Senate next year, and FiveThirtyEight polling averages show each of those races separated by 3 points or less.
Elections observers have voiced concern that in some races, a more moderate candidate might’ve been faring better in the general election than Trump’s more divisive pick.
In Ohio — a state Trump won by 8 percentage points in 2020 — his Senate pick, J.D. Vance, is leading by just 2 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average, and has often traded leads with Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan.
“Everyone can imagine that a generic Republican might be doing stronger than that,” Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, told ABC News. “A number of [Trump’s] more controversial choices will win, and a number will likely lose.”
Some Trump-backed candidates are trying to pivot to more moderate stances for the upcoming general election after adopting extreme positions in the primary seasons.
New Hampshire’s Don Bolduc, the Republican nominee for Senate, was a gung-ho election denier in the primary race but shifted his stance completely for the general election, telling Fox News in September he’s come to the conclusion the 2020 race “was not stolen.”
“Republicans in the post mortem will judge Trump’s impact largely by looking at how his Senate candidates fare,” Galston continued. “If Republicans fail to recapture or hold a majority in the Senate, I think a lot of them will say that is Trump’s fault.”
Polling, and historical trends, generally points to a Republican takeover of the House this cycle while the Senate is more in flux. According to FiveThirtyEight’s forecast, it’s a dead heat for control of the upper chamber.
Looking ahead to 2024
Trump’s actions in the midterms, his first test race since he left office, are all happening against a 2024 backdrop.
The former president is consistently suggesting he will run again for the presidency, telling the crowd at the Texas rally last month he’ll “probably have to do it again” to make the country “successful, safe and glorious again.”
“If Trump-allied Republicans are defeated in winnable races in swing states, that will have an impact on the 2024 conversation,” said Galston.
But if his endorsed candidates fare well, it could boost his profile even further in the GOP.
A host of other potential 2024 contenders are making their presence known this midterm cycle.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was in Arizona campaigning for Lake and other Republicans. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely considered to be one of Trump’s biggest competitors, has appeared at events in Kansas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump will be in Florida on Nov. 6 to stump for Sen. Marco Rubio, but will notably not appear alongside DeSantis.
In a September ABC News poll, Republicans and GOP-leaning independents were split 47%-46% on whether Trump should be their 2024 nominee — a 20-point drop for Trump since his 2020 nomination.
(WASHINGTON) — About half the country has banned abortion sometime before viability and at least 14 states have ceased nearly all abortion services, since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion rights.
Recent polling suggests this is not in line with the stance of the majority of Americans. According to a recent survey by Pew Research, 62% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Data from a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll shows that about 6 in 10 Americans (61%) think abortion should be legal in all or most cases versus only 37% who think it should be illegal.
In the months since Roe was overturned, pro-abortion groups have focused on establishing abortion as a right under state constitutions.
In the first state-level test since Roe, Kansas voters decided to preserve access to abortion in an Aug. 2 election. This November, voters in five states, California, Vermont, Michigan, Montana and Kentucky, have abortion-related questions on the ballot.
While abortion is already banned in Kentucky, a conservative initiative that seeks to amend the state constitution to explicitly state that there is no constitutional right to abortion, will be on the ballot on Nov. 8.
If the ballot initiative — known as Amendment 2 — passes, “Kentucky will be just another state where abortion is illegal in all cases and women have to leave the state [and] travel great distances in order to get the care that they need,” Rachel Sweet, campaign manager at Protect Kentucky Access — an abortion rights advocacy group — told ABC News in an interview.
If the initiative passes and abortion rights are challenged in state court, any abortion-related legislation passed by lawmakers would be examined based on the merits of that legislation, Addia Wuchner, executive director of anti-abortion group Kentucky Right to Life, told ABC News in an interview.
Wuchner contends that the amendment on the ballot would not enshrine any policy into law and would allow lawmakers to pass legislation either way the pendulum swings. But, she also said, “Kentucky has a history of being pro-life [and] pro-family.”
Adding, “[T]here’s not a right in our constitution to terminate the life of another person.”
Even before abortions were banned in Kentucky, access was limited with only two abortion clinics in the state. In 2021, those clinics performed about 4,400 abortions, most of which were within the first several weeks after fertilization, according to a report from Kentucky Public Health.
Since Roe was overturned, 66 clinics across 15 states have stopped offering abortion services, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Some Americans are now at an 800-mile drive away from their nearest abortion clinic, according to data gathered by the Myers Abortion Facility Database.
Clinics across the U.S. provided 10,000 fewer abortions in the first few months after Roe was overturned, according to data gathered by #WeCount/Society of Family Planning..
Sweet said she has heard stories from people about their experiences with abortions or pregnancy loss, which she says have kept her going. Since Roe was overturned, Sweet also said she has seen people who have never canvassed or knocked on doors before sign up to talk to their neighbors about abortion rights, saying “they are ready and raring to go.”
About 20 abortion transport volunteers with an abortion rights group called the Kentucky Health Justice Network are driving Kentucky patients, who have no way of getting to clinics or can’t afford to travel for care, to out-of-state clinics. Patients are often referred to the group by out-of-state abortion clinics, where there are often few appointments and long wait times.
“The longest drive I personally have done was to Asheville, North Carolina, which is about a six-hour drive from Louisville each way,” Anastasia, a Kentucky Health Justice Network volunteer who asked that only her first name be used, told ABC News in an interview.
For that drive, she said she got up at around 2:30 a.m. that day and was home around 7 p.m.
“It’s satisfying in the sense that I’m helping someone in a very practical, visible way. But also … frustration that this type of help is necessary,” she said.
Despite the flux in the status of abortion access in many states, activists say their determination is unwavering.
“We’re all learning this together. I think that every week we learn something new, and every week something else changes. So I think that it’s been difficult for all of us to tread these waters. But I think that we’re all dedicated to our mission,” Savannah Trebuna, the abortion fund program director at the Kentucky Health Justice Network, told ABC News.
“The fact of the matter is, a person who does not want to be pregnant should have the option to not be pregnant,” Trebuna added.
(LAVEEN VILLAGE, Ariz.) — Former President Barack Obama continued his crisscrossing of midterm election battlegrounds Wednesday in Arizona — hoping to turn out voters so Democrats can hold the Senate and keep election deniers out of office.
“Our democracy is on the ballot, and nowhere is that clearer than here in Arizona,” Obama said.
A crowd of thousands, of all ages and races, packed inside Cesar Chavez High School in Laveen Village, held up their phones and stomped their feet as the former president delivered a roast and a warning on what he called the Republican “cast of characters” on the ballot in Arizona.
“They have decided it’s advantageous for them to just assert that Donald Trump won the last election, and now they want control over the next election. And their argument has no basis in reality,” Obama said. “If you’ve got an election denier serving as your governor, as your senator, as your secretary of state, as your attorney general, then democracy, as we know it, may not survive in Arizona.”
To shore up support, especially for incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the Democratic nominee for governor, Obama tailored his attack lines to their opponents, Republicans Kari Lake and Blake Masters. Both have former President Donald Trump’s endorsement and have echoed his election denialism.
“Why would you vote for somebody who you know is not telling the truth about something? I mean, on something that important. I don’t care how nicely they say it. I don’t care how poised they are or how well-lit they are,” Obama said, referring to Lake’s TV appearances.
For more from ABC News’ team of reporters embedded in battleground states, watch “Power Trip” on Hulu, with new episodes on Sunday.
Back in May 2016, when Obama was finishing his second term and Lake was still an anchor at a FOX affiliate in Phoenix, Lake interviewed him in Arizona where they discussed Senate Republicans blocking now-Attorney General Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court. “Democracy only works when people play by the rules, where everybody is fair,” Obama told her at the time.
The former president said Wednesday he doesn’t remember thinking then that “she was the kind of person” to push conspiracies.
“I guess that stuff came later because she found it convenient — because she thought, ‘Well, here’s an opportunity to get attention,'” Obama said. “Listen, if we hadn’t just elected somebody whose main qualification was being on TV, you can say, ‘Maybe give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen?’ Well, now we know. It doesn’t just work out just because somebody’s been on TV. Turns out, being president or governor is about more than snappy lines and good lighting.”
The crowd roared.
Notably, Lake contributed to Obama’s first presidential campaign and voted for him, but attributes that now to dissatisfaction with the Republican establishment.
“Katie, she may not be flashy,” Obama said of Hobbs before an outspoken attendee disagreed. “She could have been. She just chooses not to be, because she’s serious about her work.”
Hobbs, who has faced criticism for refusing to debate Lake, has run a low-key campaign when compared to her competitor’s large-scale rallies and moderated Q&A events. But Wednesday, she took a jab at Lake in front of her largest audience yet.
“Democracy is the system that sent Barack Obama to the White House, and democracy is the system that will send Kari Lake back to whatever dark corner of the internet she came from,” Hobbs said to cheers.
Several Democrats spoke at the rally, including secretary of state candidate Adrian Fontes and attorney general candidate Kris Mayes — and one lone Republican, Mesa Mayor John Giles, an outspoken Lake critic.
“Kari Lake is playing to an audience of one. I promise you if she’s elected, she’ll spend more time traveling to Mar-a-Lago than to Mesa,” Giles said. “Likewise, Blake Masters wants to go to the Senate to represent two people: One, a billionaire in California, the other, a want-to-be billionaire former president in Florida,” he added, referring also to Peter Thiel, a Masters-mega donor.
For his part, Obama said of Masters, “If you were trying to create, in a lab, a wacky Republican politician, it’d look a lot like this guy.”
The former president also knocked the 36-year-old conservative and venture capitalist for scrubbing his website after his primary win to soften some of his stances.
“His website had all kinds of lies about how the election was stolen, then after he won the nomination, poof, vanished. Along with his extreme views on abortion, poof,” Obama said. “I mean, this guy is supposed to know tech. Does he think like people can’t track that?”
Arizona Republicans, meanwhile, were quick to dismiss Obama’s visit and note that he never carried Arizona.
“Barack Obama has never won Arizona, and the fact that he is here is a testament to the toxicity of Joe Biden that has rubbed off on Mark Kelly and Katie Hobbs,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Ben Petersen said in a statement. “This election is a referendum on Biden’s abject failure on skyrocketing inflation, open borders and violent crime.”
Masters also brushed off the former president’s criticism of him and has dismissed any notion of a post-primary pivot, likening his website changes to a run-of-the-mill update. He responded by posting a family photo to Twitter, with his wife and three small sons, and saying, “This is what Democrats like Obama think is wacky.”
Lake, meanwhile, has countered characterizations of her election denialism to say Democrats have also not conceded elections and have raised doubts in results dating back to 2000.
President Joe Biden, notably, has not visited the Grand Canyon State and has not announced plans to do so, focusing instead on Florida, Maryland, New Mexico and California. But the White House announced Thursday plans for first lady Jill Biden to campaign with Kelly in Phoenix this weekend, the final weekend before Election Day.
At the same time, Biden, Trump and Obama will all be in Pennsylvania on Saturday, a state that has seen razor-thin margins in another Senate race that could determine the balance of power in Congress.
While Obama’s appearance could be seen as coming too late since a majority of Arizonans vote early, and early voting ends Friday, voters outside the rally in South Phoenix predicted he’s the one to bring more people to the polls.
“I’m hoping he can energize us,” Ann Wood of Phoenix told ABC News. “I think every single vote counts. It was so close last time, and I just hope it makes a difference.”
“It’s never too late,” said Nancy Shubert of Sun West City. “As Democrats, we’re very, very, very hopeful.”
Libby Cathey is one of seven ABC News campaign reporters embedded in battleground states across the country. Watch all the twists and turns of covering the midterm elections every Sunday on Hulu’s “Power Trip” with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
(AKRON, Ohio) — The eight officers who fatally shot Jayland Walker, the 25-year-old Black man killed during an attempted traffic stop in Akron, Ohio, have been reinstated, according to the Akron Police Department.
Some community leaders are opposing the move, saying it will lead to “the erosion of any trust remaining between the community and police.”
The officers remain under investigation by their own department as well as the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, authorities said.
The officers were on paid administrative leave following the fatal shooting. According to ABC affiliate WEWS-TV, they were brought back on duty because to a staffing “crisis” at the department, Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said. According to the department, the officers are on administrative duty and will not be in uniform or on patrol.
“I recognize that this decision will have an impact. And there may be some community concern, but I didn’t take this decision lightly,” Mylett told the local station. “And I think this decision is in the best interests of the citizens and businesses of Akron.”
Bishop Joey Johnson, a pastor at The House of the Lord, said that the move to reinstate the officers will cause a lot of pain in a city that’s still healing. He was one of 43 community activists and religious leaders who penned a letter dated Oct. 21 to the chief about their frustrations regarding his choice to move forward with reinstating the officers.
“The family is hurting. They’re in grieving. They are traumatized,” said Johnson. “Bringing people back before the investigation is done seems like it is bringing more pain,” Johnson said.
Mylett did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment. But on Oct. 25, he released a response letter to the Akron community, saying the decision was not made “in haste,” that he still thinks it was “the correct decision given the public safety challenges of the entire community” and stands by the decision “and his commitment to build a stronger Akron.”
The chief told the Akron Beacon Journal that he was disappointed by the letter, saying he had a “consensus” from community leaders to move forward with the reinstatement.
While community leaders figure out what next steps to take in their fight for “love and justice,” Johnson said they’re focused on being able to “move toward unity … with all parties.”
“Our priority is being able to help our community, particularly when the verdict comes out,” said Johnson. “The family is hurting. They’re in grieving. They are traumatized.”
The Walker family applauded religious leaders for their letter, and slammed Mylett for returning the officers to the department.
“It is the very definition of hypocrisy for Chief Mylett to claim, as he has previously, that his department is working hard to build trust among Akron’s minority communities, and then make a callous decision like this that fosters further distrust of the Akron Police Department among this population, while jeopardizing the legitimacy of BCI’s investigation,” read a statement from the family’s legal team.
Walker was unarmed when he was fatally shot by police on June 27 after a traffic stop turned into a pursuit. He was running away when eight officers opened fire on him, body camera footage released by the city showed.
As officers pursued Walker, officials said a flash of light seen in body camera footage appeared to be the muzzle flash of a gun coming from the driver’s side of Walker’s car.
In a second body camera video, officers are heard radioing that a shot was being fired from Walker’s car.
Later in the pursuit, Walker slowed down and jumped out of the passenger side door before it came to a full stop, according to the footage. As Walker ran away from police, several officers simultaneously fired several bullets, fatally shooting him, body camera footage released by the city showed.
He was unarmed when he was shot, but a gun was found in his car by officials.
Walker had 46 gunshot wounds on his body, according to an autopsy report conducted by the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Walker also had injuries to his face, heart, both lungs, liver, spleen, left kidney, intestines, pelvis, iliac artery and several bones in his legs, to chief medical examiner Lisa Kohler.
His manner of death has been ruled homicide and the toxicology report showed no use of drugs nor alcohol by Walker at the time of the incident.
“The family is devastated by the findings of the report and still await a public apology from the police department,” the Walker family’s legal team said in a statement to ABC News.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — Paul Pelosi has been released from the hospital, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News, six days after being attacked in his home.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — A 43-year-old woman said she was raped while jogging along Manhattan’s West Side Highway Thursday morning, according to police.
The woman told authorities she was jogging near Pier 45 when, at about 5:30 a.m., a man grabbed her from behind, choked her and knocked her to the ground, the New York Police Department said.
She said he raped her, stole her wallet and phone and then fled on foot, according to police.
The victim flagged down another jogger who dialed 911, police said.
She was taken to a hospital in stable condition, police said.
Police announced the arrest of 29-year-old Carl Phanor on Thursday in connection with the jogger’s rape. Phanor has also been charged in the March 27 rape of a different woman in a nearly identical location. Additionally, police said Phanor has been charged in a third incident, an attack on a woman on the East Side of Manhattan. He is facing charges of sexually motivated robbery, robbery, grand larceny, strangulation, predatory sexual assault and criminal sex act.
Police said Phanor is undomiciled.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News earlier that a suspect was apprehended after police said he used the victim’s credit card at a Target in Midtown Manhattan.
Gabrielle Sumkin, who identified herself as the jogger who called 911, told ABC News she was on her usual running route when she noticed the victim, who she said appeared to be in distress. She said the victim had blood on her arm and elbows and was covering her eyes with her hand.
The 23-year-old said the victim could barely speak. Sumkin said, while she was on the phone with 911, the woman kept repeating, “I need help.”
She said she didn’t want to press the woman about what happened, and said she left the scene once first responders arrived. Sumkin said it wasn’t until news reports came out that she learned the woman had been raped.
Sumkin said she was sickened when she found out, and excused herself from work to go on a walk and cry.
“It’s disgusting. I’m a staunch feminist. I support women,” she said. “People who commit crimes like that are at the absolute bottom of my list.”
(NEW YORK) — The FBI on Thursday said it has “received credible information of a broad threat” to New Jersey synagogues.
In a tweet, the FBI urged people to “stay alert” and “take all security precautions to protect your community and facility.”
The threat, which originated online, was not specific to any one synagogue, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The nature of the threat was not immediately clear, but law enforcement sources said it was not a bomb threat.
“Law enforcement will be increasing patrols in sensitive areas,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. “Some of these patrols will be in marked vehicles and others will not — but please do not be alarmed if you observe an increase in police presence as we are taking these steps in an abundance of caution.”
Platkin also urged residents “to be extra vigilant” and report any suspicious activity to the police.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted that he’s in touch with the FBI, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and are working with local law enforcement to ensure that all houses of worship are protected,” the governor said.
The New York Police Department said it’s aware of the FBI’s alert.
“In an abundance of caution, the NYPD’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureaus are working diligently alongside the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI to ensure the safety and well-being of every area that encompasses our Jewish citizens and synagogues here in New York City and the Tri-State area,” the department tweeted.
(WASHINGTON) — In the wake of the 2020 election, state and local election officials have faced a wave of threats and misinformation, prompting mass resignations up and down their ranks — and stoking fear among some experts that their replacements would put partisan loyalties above the free and fair administration of the election.
In the weeks and months after the 2020 vote, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School found that one-third of election workers reported feeling unsafe because of their job. Nearly one-fifth of respondents listed threats to their lives as a job-related concern.
ABC News reported in June 2021 that dozens of election administrators at the state and local level had resigned their posts at an alarming rate in places like South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. In August, ABC News reported that persistent threats and misinformation had prompted a “second wave” of resignations in at least nine states.
Election worker threats
In Georgia, two election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, were forced into hiding after Rudy Giuliani and conservative media outlets accused the mother-daughter duo of conspiring to commit election fraud. The two testified about their experience before the Jan. 6 committee.
Stephen Richer, the Republican chief elections officer in Maricopa County, Arizona, faced an onslaught of death threats after overseeing a controversial audit of the 2020 election, which lead him to cease attending political events for fear of his safety.
In response to the wave of threats targeting election workers, the Justice Department launched a task force focused on these complaints — but results have been paltry, state and local officials have said. In August, the task force said it had reviewed “over 1,000” reports of threats — though only 11% had met the threshold for federal criminal investigation. Seven cases have been charged — one of whom was convicted and sentenced in October to 18 months in prison.
Georgia’s office of secretary of state has launched a text message alert notification tool for election workers to report threats or security issues.
With so many election officials leaving their jobs, democracy experts fear their departures will leave an “institutional knowledge” gap about election administration, and their replacements may harbor partisan motivations.
Indeed, as ABC News reported in January, many Republican-led efforts to recruit new poll workers took on a partisan bent. More recently, ABC News reported that allies of former President Donald Trump have used false election claims to recruit ex-military members as poll workers.
Voting machines
Electronic voting machines became a target of many falsehoods and disproven conspiracy theories in the wake of 2022, with Republican activists falsely claiming that certain devices were somehow manipulated to switch votes from Trump to President Joe Biden, among others.
Dominion Voting Systems, one of the nation’s largest voting machine purveyors, filed multiple lawsuits against conservative news outlets and Trump allies over the promulgation of “outlandish” conspiracy theories involving its product.
Tina Peters, a county recorder in Mesa County, Arizona, was indicted in May 2021 on charges associated with a security breach in her office. Peters, a Trump supporter and election denier, allegedly allowed an unauthorized person to obtain voter machine logs and a forensic copy of its hard drive. The documents later emerged on the internet. Peters has pleaded not guilty.
Concerns over voting software and hardware will be front and center again in 2022, and the Ballotwatch team will be on the lookout for both unfounded claims and legitimate vulnerabilities with election infrastructure.
Nevada Secretary of State, Republican Barbara Cegavske, recently approved a proposal to allow counties to hand-count votes this fall after Nye County, based on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, decided earlier this year to abandon the Dominion voting machines it had relied on for years.
Access to the vote
Long lines and access to polling locations have long been the scourge of democracy advocates — and 2022 will likely be no different. Republican-led state legislatures have enacted dozens of laws restricting voting access since 2020, including many that would repeal 2020 exceptions for the covid-19 pandemic.
Since the beginning of 2021, lawmakers have passed at least 42 restrictive voting laws in 21 states, according to the Brennan Center. Among those laws, 33 contain at least one restrictive provision that is in effect for the midterms in 20 states.
ABC News recently reported that the promulgation of election-related threats has made some schools and churches reconsider whether it is safe to continue serving as polling locations, prompting concerns among some election officials that voters may face more difficulty casting their ballots in November and beyond.
Voter intimidation and poll watchers
Partisan poll watchers representing both Republicans and Democrats have observed elections for decades. But in the run-up to the 2020 election, former President Trump’s allies sought to weaponize these actors for their own political benefit, demonstrating behavior that some democracy advocates say amounted to voter intimidation.
Ahead of the midterms, more of the same appears to be underway.
In Arizona, for example, multiple cases of alleged voter intimidation at drop box locations have already been referred to the Justice Department. Complaints described individuals loitering near the drop box locations, filming, and photographing voters as they returned their ballots and, in some cases, taking photographs of the voters’ license plates.
On Tuesday, a federal issued a temporary restraining order to prohibit some people accused of voter intimidation from gathering near ballot boxes and surveilling voters, ruling that observers must remain at least 75 feet away from drop boxes and banning open carry and body armor within 250 feet.
