明尼苏达州司法部长基思·埃里森(Keith Ellison)周二表示，他的办公室正在对一家总部位于田纳西州的公司展开调查，该公司被指控招募武装警卫担任投票观察员。
埃里森说，他正在调查总部设在田纳西州的阿特拉斯·宙斯盾公司，据称该公司在选举日和“邮报”上发布了武装安全人员的广告选举根据美国-伊斯兰关系委员会(CAIR)明尼苏达州和明尼苏达州女性选民联盟提起的诉讼。
埃里森说，公司雇佣私人武装力量并在投票时恐吓选民是违反明尼苏达州宪法的。
埃里森说:“明尼苏达州和联邦法律是明确的:任何人不得干涉或恐吓投票站的选民，任何人不得在我们州操纵私人武装力量。”。“在投票站出现私人‘保安’将违反这些法律。它不会让任何人变得更安全，也不会被任何管理选举或执法的人所需要或想要。基于这些原因，我的办公室正在正式调查阿特拉斯·宙斯盾。”
阿特拉斯·埃吉斯没有回应美国广播公司新闻部关于对埃里森的调查或诉讼发表评论的请求。
根据诉讼，阿特拉斯·宙斯盾在Facebook上发布了一则广告，寻求前美国特种作战人员保护企业、投票站和住宅免受“抢劫和破坏”。该帖子已被删除。
该诉讼引用了阿特拉斯·宙斯盾公司董事长安东尼·考德尔对《华盛顿邮报》的采访，证实了脸书帖子的真实性。
酒汤告诉除非有问题，否则武装保安人员不会被看到，一些人员会在那里防止反法西斯。
“他们在那里是为了保护，就是这样，”他说。“他们在那里是为了确保反法西斯不会试图破坏选举现场。”
专家说反法西斯与其说是一个组织，不如说是一种意识形态。
罗格斯大学历史学教授、《反法西斯手册》的作者马克·布雷说:“这不是一个有总部、总统和指挥链的特定组织。”“这是一种政治。从某种意义上说，反法西斯集团很多，但反法西斯本身不是一个集团。”
上个月，美国联邦调查局局长克里斯托弗·雷(Christopher Wray)向众议院国土安全委员会(House Homeland Security Committee)成员重申了这一观点。
“这是一场运动或一种意识形态，”雷说。
在另一次国会听证会上，他说，“反法西斯是真的。这不是虚构的。”
美国国土安全部前代理副部长、美国广播公司新闻撰稿人约翰·科恩(John Cohen)表示，这种行为是执法部门看到的更大模式的一部分。
“在本次选举周期中，执法部门面临的最大问题之一是，个人或团体将...参与旨在恐吓和压制人们投票的活动。
他继续说，“如果这些情况发生在他们的管辖范围内，全国各地的部门应该计划如何处理这些情况。”
Minnesota attorney general launches investigation into company accused of hiring armed guards as poll watchers
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Tuesday said his office was opening an investigation into a Tennessee-based company that has been accused of recruiting armed guards as poll watchers.
Ellison said he was looking into Tennessee-based Atlas Aegis, which allegedly sent advertisements for armed security personnel on Election Day and "postelectionsupport missions," according to a lawsuit filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Minnesota and League of Women Voters of Minnesota.
Ellison said it is against Minnesota's constitution for companies to hire private armed forces and to intimidate voters at the polls.
“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. "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."
Atlas Aegis has not responded to ABC News' request for comment about Ellison's investigation or the lawsuit.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announces that charges have been filed against former Minneapolis police officers Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao in the death of George Floyd, June 3, 2020, in Minneapolis.
According to the lawsuit, Atlas Aegis posted an advertisement on Facebook seeking former U.S. Special Operations personnel to protect businesses, polls and residences from "looting and destruction." The post has since been deleted.
The lawsuit cites an interview Atlas Aegis Chairman Anthony Caudle gave to The Washington Post confirming the authenticity of the Facebook post.
CaudletellsThe Post the armed security personnel would not be seen unless there was a problem and that some of the personnel would be there to protect against Antifa.
“They’re there for protection, that’s it,” he said. “They’re there to make sure that the Antifas don’t try to destroy the election sites.”
Experts say that Antifa is more of an ideology than an organization.
"It's not one specific organization with a headquarters and a president and a chain of command," according to Mark Bray, a history professor at Rutgers University and author of "The Anti-Fascist Handbook." "It's a kind of politics. In a sense, there are plenty of Antifa groups, but Antifa itself is not a group."
FBI Director Christopher Wray echoed that sentiment to members of the House Homeland Security Committee last month.
"It’s a movement or an ideology," Wray said.
At another congressional hearing, he said, "Antifa is a real thing. It is not a fiction."
According to John Cohen, a former acting undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security and ABC News contributor, this behavior is part of a larger pattern law enforcement is seeing.
"One of the top concerns facing law enforcement during this election cycle is that individuals or groups will ... engage in activities intended to intimidate and suppress people from voting," Cohen said.
He went on, "Departments across the country should be planning on how they are going to deal with these types of situations should they occur in their jurisdictions."
