Minnesota Attorney General’s Office investigating company accused of recruiting private election security
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Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that his office is investigating a Tennessee-based company that was allegedly recruiting veterans to perform security services during the elections in Minnesota.
The attorney general’s office sent a formal request for information regarding the report on Oct. 14 to Atlas Aegis.
According to Ellison’s office, the company is legally required to respond to the request within 10 days of receiving it.
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The request seeks to find who may be hiring the private security, what their role would be near polling places and how they will meet Minnesota’s requirement for licenses and permits.
FILE - In this Wednesday, May 27, 2020, file photo, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison answers questions during a news conference in St. Paul, Minn.[AP/ John Autey, Pioneer Press]
Ellison’s office said a number of state and federal laws prohibit intimidating or interfering with voters.
"Minnesota and federal law are clear: no one may interfere with or intimidate a voter at a polling place, and no one may operate private armed forces in our state," Ellison said in a statement. "The presence of private ‘security’ at polling places would violate these laws. It would make no one safer and is not needed or wanted by anyone who runs elections or enforces the law. For these reasons, my office is formally investigating Atlas Aegis."
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS made numerous attempts to reach Atlas Aegis for comment.