No Election Violence Plots Uncovered In LA, Garcetti Said

LOS ANGELES, CA — As the nation grapples with an unprecedented sense of doubt about election security, Mayor Eric Garcetti took the unusual step this week of announcing there is "no intelligence" suggesting a plot to carry out election violence or voter intimidation in Los Angeles.

Still, he said police will "prepare for the worst" while hoping for the best.

"We are very prepared for the elections, but at the same time, I don't want to buy into a narrative that there's going to be chaos during our elections," Garcetti said. "We prepare for the worst, but we are hoping and expect generally the best."

The announcement, meant to calm residents and voters, was in itself eerie, because elections in the United States have long been considered safe. However, the president has denounced the process as rigged and called on supporters to head to the polls to watch out for suspicious activity. He infamously told an extremist hate group to "Stand down and standby," during the first presidential debate.

Garcetti said the Los Angeles Police Department will be prepared to respond to any incidents of violence or voter intimidation at the polls.

"But there's no intelligence of a widespread plot," Garcetti said. "... A lot of folks are saying, `should we shut down our businesses,' or `should we do X, Y and Z.' We are here as always. ... The city government will never stop working for you during this pandemic. And this is a critically important election.

"Law enforcement isn't and oftentimes by law allowed to be right at an election site, because ... that's not the sort of country we live in. But they are available to protect our rights when we need them should anybody through violence or other means try to take that away.

"So I'm very confident. I would encourage folks to just slip that ballot tomorrow into the mail. We all got it, that's he easiest way to vote. If for one reason or another you forgot to do that or really feel you have to vote in person, you know, be safe, keep a lookout, let us know if anything's happening and we'll be there for you.

"But again, I do not expect that to be anything widespread. There may be individual instances, we'll see some stuff around the country. But don't let any of that change the narrative of you, your right to vote -- and don't be scared to vote. We need everybody's vote protected."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.