In recent days, federal law enforcement officers across the government received a shocking communication from the Justice Department: a warning that they could be prosecuted under a Civil War-era law if they responded to a polling place with guns, even for a false report of a crime.

The memo from Corey R. Amundson, head of the DOJ’s public integrity section that oversees election crimes, was dated Oct. 15 and said it was prompted by requests for information about how the government could react to the violence on election day.

It was brought to the attention of Just the news by a top law enforcement official and confirmed by several federal agents, some who said their immediate superiors offered additional guidance.

“As part of our role overseeing federal election crimes prosecution efforts, the Public Integrity Section, through our Election Crimes Branch, has received inquiries about the legality of having armed federal law enforcement officers at polling places,” Amundson wrote. “Given the potential relevance of this issue to federal law enforcement agencies and the Department of Defense. we thought it prudent to bring to your attention Title 18, United States Code, Section 592“.

“This law – which has been in existence since 1864 – makes it a crime for a federal official to send armed personnel into an operational polling location for crowd control or other purposes,” the memo adds.

DOJ officials and retired agents said Just the news Similar communications about the Civil War-era law have been sent during previous elections, but this year’s memo received more internal attention due to a recent ISIS terrorist plot on Election Day which was foiled a few weeks ago in Oklahoma and more recent firebombings of ballot collection boxes in the Northwest.

The current memo warns agents that bad actors might try to incite them into an armed response at a polling place with a false report of violence.

“Be aware that an individual or group may seek to incite an armed federal response to a polling place in violation of the law by making a false report of a bomb threat or active shooter,” the memo warns. “Coordination with your state and local law enforcement partners is essential.”

The memo stated that there are two exceptions to the law:

• “The law does not prevent federal law enforcement officers from carrying their service weapon when visiting a polling place to vote in their personal capacity.”
• “The law does not prevent an armed federal response when a polling place ceases operations since it is no longer covered by the law in these circumstances. This may happen due to an emergency, such as a bomb threat or active shooter.

Federal agents said the memo created some confusion and consternation within the agency. “If we get a report of a terrorist attack and respond quickly as we should and we get there and find out it’s fake and the polling station is still operating, I guess we’ll go to jail ” said one agent, speaking only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Jeff Danik, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, said Just the news that that election year memo seemed clunky and that there was probably a better way to communicate with agents. “This is really a routine notification,” Danik said. “The DOJ should have simply said that there is a pre-approval process for a significant federal response to a polling location that, absent a public safety emergency, requires specific notifications and approval.”

“Instead, being typical weak DOJ leaders, they can’t help but threaten rather than communicate with street officers like children,” he added.

The statute in question dates to the Civil War and contemporary fears that soldiers attempted to disrupt the election in which Abraham Lincoln won a second term amid intense fighting between Union and Confederate soldiers.

The American Code was reorganized in 1948 and the text of the law enacted in 1865 was passed by Congress to declare that: “Whoever, being an officer of the army or navy, or any other person in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States, orders, brings, keeps or has under his authority or control troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is being held, unless such force is necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States, shall be fined in under this title or to imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both. ; and be disqualified from holding any office of honor and profit. or a trust under the United States.

History lesson aside, the DOJ memo also provided insight into how the Biden-Harris DOJ plans to address concerns about Election Day conflicts by creating a special chain of command.

“Each U.S. Attorney’s Office has a designated District Election Officer (DEO) and each FBI field office has a designated Election Crime Coordinator (ECC),” the memo explains. “If you have not already done so, your field offices should contact their region’s DEO and ECC to establish points of contact in the event of an incident or emergency.

“Actions taken by law enforcement at federal, state, and local agencies can and should be reported through the FBI ECC in each jurisdiction, whose role is to track and verify disruptions in polling places,” he added. operational activity is properly conflict-resolved and legal.