An 18-year-old Donald Trump supporter faces a felony charge for threatening two Kamala Harris supporters with a machete while campaigning outside an early voting site in Florida. Caleb James Williams is charged with aggravated assault, a felony, against a person 65 years old or older and exhibiting a deadly weapon, a misdemeanor, according to police records from Neptune Beach.
Police Chief Michael Key Jr. said that Williams and seven youths aged 16 and 17 drove to a suburban Jacksonville library on Tuesday afternoon “to protest and antagonize the opposing political side.” Wielding Trump flags, they began to shout at a group of Harris supporters and the situation escalated. Key displayed a photo taken by a witness of a smiling Williams “wielding a machete in an aggressive and threatening posture above his head.”
“Speaking your mind is your right protected by the First Amendment, but that goes lost the moment you raise a machete above your head,” Key said. The Harris supporters who were allegedly threatened are women aged 71 and 54. The legal consequences for Williams could be serious, as the minimum sentence for aggravated assault against an elderly person in Florida is three years in prison.
Dean Black, the Republican Chair of Duval, thanked the police for arresting Williams but stated in a statement that Democrats and others are to blame for the angry political atmosphere surrounding the election. President Biden, speaking on Tuesday about a comedian at a Trump rally over the weekend who referred to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of trash,” said: “The only trash I see floating out there are his supporters.” In response to this incident, Daniel Henry, the Democratic Chair of Duval County, stated that Williams committed “a concerning act of intimidation.”
Williams, a waitstaff assistant, was being held without bail on Wednesday morning at the Duval County jail awaiting his first court appearance. Meanwhile, the Duval County Democratic Party stands with those looking to express their opinions peacefully and without fear of retaliation. Key stated that the seven minors who were with Williams did not appear to have committed any crime, but the investigation is ongoing. It is unknown if the accused has a lawyer to speak on his legal situation.