■ „Ready to rumble: Some South Florida sites are boarding up, anticipating the worst on Election Day.
How South Florida is preparing for potential Election Day clashes
Police, business owners and everyday citizens are hoping Election Day is calm, but they are also preparing for the potential of violence spilling into the streets today.
Some shop owners are boarding up their businesses just in case. Police agencies are putting as many bodies on the streets as possible and coordinating among one another to converge on any problem areas.
Lisa Gonzalez, a caretaker from Boca Raton, plans to stay home. On Sunday, she said she got caught in a large caravan of Trump supporters while driving in West Boca. She said some of them shouted at her to go back to her country. Gonzalez came to the United States from the Dominican Republic 20 years ago.
“I was afraid. The people looked so angry,” she said. When she got home, she called a family meeting and decided it would be best if everyone stayed put for the next couple of days. “We cannot go out,” she said.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he has been getting his own dose of what divides people the last fewdays at earlyvoting sites. The name-calling is chilling, he said.
He said that he thinks there could be some issues and that the Fort Lauderdale Police Department is on alert. A spokeswoman for the department said they have canceled all planned vacations for officers this week.
“We never know what to predict, but I think the bounds of decency have been overstepped in the last few months,” Trantalis said. He said he doesn’ t want people to be afraid to go to the polls Tuesday or to go about their daily lives.
“It will be a normal day with some excitement at the end of the day,” he said.
As for Wednesday and the following days, well, that is another story. “I am very concerned by how some of the losers will react,” hesaid.
In Palm Beach County, Houston Tate, director of the county’s Office of Community Revitalization, hopes longstanding community outreach efforts since March will help keep the peace no matter what happens on Election Day.
“We probably have the strongest relationship between the county and [the Palm Beach Sheriff’ s Office] with respect with these communities,” Tate said.
He said that Palm Beach County was blessed not to have any major issues during moments of unrest in South Florida earlier this year. He hopes the trend will continue. “I think we’ll be OK,” he said. “I think the communities are working together.”
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez also shared hopeful sentiments. Election Day “should be a celebration of our democratic values,” he said. “We are hoping everything goes well.”
Nonetheless, he said, they are preparing for theworst. “We are aware of the anxieties that exist and we know that just becausewe haven’t seen a credible threat yet, [that] doesn’t mean that one can’t or won’t develop.”
In response, he said that every single available police officer in the city will be working on Election Day. He said the city also will be increasing the police presence throughout the city, including stationing plainclothes officers at polling places.
“Violence of any form will not be tolerated in the city of Miami,” he said.
Nearby police agencies in the county say they are also coordinating with one another to send in reinforcements where necessary.
“We will be able to assist anyone that needs our help,” said Kelly Denham, a spokeswoman for the Coral Gables Police Department.
Denham said that although there are several voting locations within Coral Gables, there haven’t been any problems yet.
She said that in late May and June, Coral Gables did not encounter the significant looting and damage like other partsof South Florida, in protests over the death of George Floyd that later turned into riots.
In late May, a protest in downtown Miami devolved into rioting, looting and overturned police cars set ablaze.
A protest in Fort Lauderdale also turned ugly after protesters and police clashed downtown. Cops dealing with the crowds shot rubber bullets, severely injuring one woman. Protesters also responded by throwing firecrackers, rocks and bottles.
Later, some people caused havoc on Las Olas Boulevard, busting up shop windows.
Andi Ka’Ton, owner of Ka’Ton Salon, had a window damaged during the chaos that night. But he doesn’t plan to take extra precautions on Election Day.
“I think the possibility is in the low, low range that something will occur,” he said.
Instead, he struck a more hopeful tone. He said the city of Fort Lauderdale is a giant melting pot where people of different countries and cultures have figured out howto live together. He hopes that unity will extend beyond whatever the results of the election will be. “We just have to figure out what unifies us and not divides us.”
In Midtown Miami, a large Ross store seemed to plan for theworst.
On Monday morning, large boards covered up every window in the store, as if it were preparing for a dangerous hurricane.
Store managers declined to comment, while a security guard there said the boarded windows were a precaution for what might happen on Election Day.
Down the street, Marie Joachim, a store manager of a Sally Beauty, said she had noticed the boarded-up windows.
Her business has shortened hours for Election Day, closing at 2p.m., but she said that is to allow store employees to go vote.
She said she is unsure if her corporate managers will make the decision to have her windows boarded up, too. “Maybe because of how the situation may get,” she said. “You never know how people are going to react.”
Joachim said that on Wednesday her business will open up and have a day like any other day.
Then she paused. “Hopefully,” she said with an anxious chuckle.