JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WSVN) — Police are searching for the driver of a van that drove through a voter registration tent in Jacksonville.
Police said the man narrowly missed hitting the volunteers. He then got out of the vehicle, took video of the scene, and flipped off the victims before driving away.
“All of a sudden, he hit the gas and plowed into us,” said Mark Alfieri.
When asked how close the driver came to hitting people, Alfieri said, “Probably maybe half a foot. It was very close.”
Alfieri was volunteering with the Republican Party, Saturday. He was registering voters with five other women close to 3 p.m. when, he said, the van pulled up.
“Kind of out of the blue, a man approached us in a van, was waving at us, kind of a friendly demeanor, thought he was coming up to talk to us,” said Alfieri. “Instead, he accelerated his vehicle and plowed right into our tent, our tables.”
Thankfully, no one was injured, but Alfieri said he got a decent look at the man. He described the man as a white male in his 20s.
“After he ran over everything, he backed up, took out a cell phone, kind of recorded the damage, made some obscene gestures at us and then proceeded to leave the complex,” said Alfieri.
Police believe the driver was in a brown and gold van.
Jacksonville Police said although no one was injured, several people were in the area and could have been hurt.
They are investigating this case as aggravated assault.
Police were asked if they believed this was politically motivated, and they said at this point they don’t know and emphasized that the investigation has just began.
“I shouldn’t have to worry about the safety of volunteers who are just trying to register voters,” said GOP Duval Chairman Dean Black. “I thank God our people were okay, that they were able to get out of the way in time.”
Volunteers cleaned up later that day knowing it could have been much worse.
The suspect has not been identified.
The Republican Party posted on Facebook that they plan to grow their efforts to register voters.
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