Carol Leonnig, Will McDuffie, Alex Tabet, and Laura BarrĂłn-LĂłpez at MS NOW:
FBI agents on Thursday raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a pro-democracy organization that helps register voters in that state, three people briefed on the search told MS NOW.
Agents also fanned out across the state, showing up at the homes of the groupâs leaders and staff members, carrying some subpoenas and seeking information and electronic devices, according to the three people briefed, two of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive ongoing investigation. Members of the group contacted lawyers on Thursday to determine their legal options, the people said.
Prentiss Haney, a board member of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, told MS NOW Thursday night that agents approached people with connections to the group, including some who had performed basic canvassing and volunteer work, and pressed them for information.
Agents were âbasically trying to fish for information,â Haney said.
âThey had agents all across the state going to civil rights leadersâ and community leadersâ doors intimidating them, coming and demanding that they talk about literally anything they would ask,â Haney said, adding that agents âasked them if theyâre committing voter fraud, just on their doors, in front of their houses with their children, and just following them to work and school.â
Some of the people said the agents approached without warrants, according to Haney.
âJust straight-up intimidation tactics,â he said.
[...]
According to its website, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative facilitates statewide voter registration through grassroots, community-led programs, including its Democracy Builders initiative. The group works in Ohioâs major metropolitan areas, such as Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, to help underrepresented communities register to vote, and provides other support.Â
The group has also joined lawsuits challenging redistricting efforts that it argues reduce Black votersâ representation. These lawsuits also challenge âstand your groundâ laws that allow a person to shoot someone if they feel threatened.
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