Man who drove van at GOP voter sign-up worked as stage hand
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The man who authorities say deliberately drove a van into a tent where voters were being registered by local Republicans was working as a stage hand and had been living in northeast Florida for two years, according to jail records and an arrest report.
Gregory Timm, 27, was a stage hand who had been referred work through the local International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, according to the arrest report released Sunday.
Jail booking information said he had lived in Jacksonville for two years.
The heavily redacted arrest report didn't offer a motive for the Saturday incident and didn't reveal Timm's political affiliations. Records from Arizona showed Timm registered to vote in 2011 as a "non-partisan." Florida records showed no voter registration information for him.
No one on Monday answered a phone number listed on the arrest report.
This February 2020 booking photo provided by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office shows Gregory William Loel Timm. The Florida sheriff's office said Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, that Timm was arrested for driving through a voter registration tent in Jacksonville, Fla.[Jacksonville Sheriff's Office via AP]
Sheriff: Man arrested for driving into voter sign-up tent
Timm has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a person 65 years old or older, one count of criminal mischief and driving with a suspended license. There were no injuries. The arrest report said no drugs or alcohol were involved.
Bail was set at more than $500,000 on Sunday.
Witnesses told deputies Timm slowly drove by a tent that had been set up by local Republicans in a parking lot on Saturday to register voters.
"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, instead he accelerated his vehicle and plowed right into our tent, our tables," volunteer Mark Alfieri told television station WJAX.
Afterward, he backed up, recorded the damaged tent and scattered signs on his cellphone and made obscene gestures before leaving, Alfieri said.
Jail records show Timm was born in Des Moines. Other records show Timm grew up in Phoenix and a Facebook post says he studied at Paradise Valley Community College.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, IATSE Local 115 said Timm had been referred for job placement through the union's hiring hall, but he was not a member.
"The membership of IATSE Local 115 is a diverse group of workers with varying political beliefs and is outraged at the actions of Gregory William Timm," the statement said.