Florida teen with machete arrested for voter intimidation at polling place

October 30, 2024

Neptune Beach Police Dept

(NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla.) — An 18-year-old was arrested outside a Florida polling location Tuesday after police said he wielded a machete in order to intimidate voters.

Caleb James Williams faces charges of aggravated assaulted on a person 65 years of age or older and improper exhibition of a firearm or dangerous weapon.

In a press conference after the arrest, Neptune Beach Police Chief Michael J. Key said Williams “brandished a machete in an aggressive, threatening posture over his head” at two women, ages 71 and 54.

Williams was accompanied by seven other male teens, ages 16 and 17, who police said went to the Beaches Branch Library “to protest and antagonize the opposing political side.”

“The group was there for no other reason but for ill intentions to cause a disturbance,” Key said. “This is not an incident of solely a First Amendment protected right, but rather one where they were simply there to cause a ruckus.”

None of the other teens currently face any charges, but Key said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible.

Duval County Democratic Party Chair Daniel Henry said in a statement the young men had been wielding flags bearing former President Donald Trump’s name during the incident, and that the individuals they confronted were carrying signs in support of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Henry described it as a “troubling act of intimidation” and thanked police for the swift response.

“Violence and intimidation have no place in our democratic process,” Henry said. “The Duval County Democratic Party stands with those who seek to express their views peacefully and without fear of reprisal.”

Key said he is “extremely proud” of police for their handling of the incident.

“Voting in our country is one of the most sacred and protected rights we have,” he said. “Ensuring everyone’s right to vote is crucial and it will not be impeded upon in Neptune Beach or Duval County.”

He also expressed his anger at the incident, and emphasized how seriously police will take such incidents.

“I don’t know if you can see the visceral anger I have, but I’m angry at this — I’m extremely angry at this.” Key said. “It is one thing to go up and exercise your First Amendment right, which we so dearly take as a sacred right to express. But again, the moment you move to violence, that goes out the window.”

“To say I’m disturbed is an understatement. I’m mad that this happened in Neptune Beach,” he added.

Police are in contact with Jerry Holland, the Duval County supervisor of elections, and Key said they are committed to protecting voters’ safety at the polls.

“This is a safe location to vote, it was a safe location to vote today before this incident, and it will continue to remain a safe location to vote,” he said.

Jack Smith asks judge in Jan. 6 case to address immunity as Trump seeks dismissal

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Lawyers for Donald Trump and special counsel Jack Smith disagree on how to proceed with the former president’s election interference case, both sides said in a joint filing late Friday.

On the heels of this week’s superseding indictment in which Smith adjusted the case’s original charges to respect the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity, Smith, in Friday’s filing, declined to propose a timeline for the case — telling the court that “decisions on how to manage its docket are firmly within its discretion” — while Trump’s lawyers proposed delaying any in-person proceedings until after the November election.

Trump last August pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election to remain in power. Last month, in a blockbuster decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.

Smith, in Friday’s joint filing, urged U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to address the Supreme Court’s immunity decision “first and foremost,” while Trump’s lawyers asked the court to immediately consider dismissing the case based on the legality of Smith’s appointment before turning to the immunity issue.

“The parties recognize the types of motions and briefing anticipated in pre-trial proceedings but have differing views on how the Court should schedule these matters and the manner in which they are to be conducted,” the filing said.

Rather than propose in-person evidentiary hearings — which could have resulted in a so-called “mini-trial” ahead of the election — Smith urged the court to accept written briefs about presidential immunity to “distinguish [Trump’s] private electioneering activity from official action.” If Trump’s team filed motions on other issues, Smith asked the court to consider those issues simultaneously with the immunity issue.

Such a schedule could quickly address the question of presidential immunity and position the case to proceed to trial, though Trump is likely to appeal his immunity claim if Chutkan rules against him.

“The Government is prepared to file its opening immunity brief promptly at any time the Court deems appropriate,” the filing said.

Trump’s lawyers asked Chutkan to first consider whether Smith’s appointment as special counsel and funding are constitutional — the issue that led a Florida judge to dismiss the former president’s classified documents case last month — before considering whether to dismiss the indictment based on presidential immunity. Defense lawyers proposed holding a hearing about Smith’s appointment in December followed by a non-evidentiary hearing about immunity in late January.

“We believe, and expect to demonstrate, that this case must end as a matter of law,” Trump’s attorneys said in the filing.

Defense lawyers also signaled that they plan to argue the indictment should be dismissed because the grand jury heard evidence related to then-Vice President Mike Pence’s role in the 2020 vote certification process, which they believe is subject to presidential immunity.

“If the Court determines, as it should, that the Special Counsel cannot rebut the presumption that these acts are immune, binding law requires that the entire indictment be dismissed because the grand jury considered immunized evidence,” the filing said.

Chutkan had earlier scheduled a Sept. 5 status conference to chart a path forward for the long-delayed case, which has not seen an in-person proceeding since last year.

The Jan. 6 developments are just part of the flurry of legal activity Trump faces in the final months before the election.

On Monday, prosecutors in the special counsel’s office appealed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon decision to dismiss the charges in Trump’s classified documents case.

Trump is also scheduled to be sentenced in New York on Sept. 18 after he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The former president has mounted multiple efforts to delay the sentencing, including a last-minute attempt to remove the case to federal court.

“At that potential sentencing, President Trump faces the prospect of immediate and unlawful incarceration under New York law, which could prevent him from continuing to pursue his leading campaign for the Presidency,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a filing Thursday.

Mom of Georgia school shooting suspect: ‘If I could take their place, I would’

Booking photo of Apalachee High School shooting suspect, Colt Gray, released by the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office. — Barrow County Sheriff’s Office

(WINDER, Ga.) — The mother of Colt Gray, the 14-year-old suspected of opening fire at his Georgia high school, was in tears and overcome with emotion while speaking to ABC News.

“If I could take their place, I would. I would in a heartbeat,” Marcee Gray said Sunday night.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told ABC News that the timeline of phone calls and events on the morning of the Apalachee High School shooting are being investigated.

This comes as allegations by the accused shooter’s aunt raise new questions about whether Colt Gray’s mother warned school officials of an “extreme emergency” about 30 minutes before the gunfire on Wednesday.

Colt Gray’s aunt, Annie Polhamus Brown, confirmed to ABC News that Marcee Gray called a school counselor on Wednesday morning, telling school officials to find her son and check on him immediately. This news was first reported by The Washington Post.

According to the Post, “That account is supported by a call log from the family’s shared phone plan, which shows a 10-minute call from the mother’s phone to the school starting at 9:50 a.m. — about a half-hour before witnesses have said the gunman opened fire.”

The sheriff told ABC News he is not aware of that phone call, but he stressed authorities are in the very early stages of the investigation and are working to piece together a timeline. School district officials declined to comment.

Colt Gray is accused of killing two students and two teachers, and injuring nine others, at Apalachee High School on Wednesday.

He is charged with four counts of felony murder. More charges will be filed, prosecutors said.

The teen’s father, Colin Gray, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, the GBI said. He is accused of “knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said.

The father and son both made their first court appearances on Friday. Neither has entered a plea and both are set to return to court on Dec. 4.

ABC News’ Toria Tolley, Stephanie Maurice and Darrell Calhoun and contributed to this report.

Teen screamed he was ‘going to die’ after being shot in face while looking for place to take homecoming pictures

Kali9/Getty Images

(JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo.) — A Colorado teenager who was shot in the face while looking for a place to take homecoming photos said he knew he was bleeding and told deputies he screamed “I was going to die,” according to an affidavit.

The teenager is hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Medical professionals told the sheriff’s office they believed there was a fragment of a bullet in the teen’s head, according to the affidavit.

Officers responded to a report of two trespassers on a property on Tuesday to find one of two teens shot in the face. The homeowner had also called her boyfriend to report the trespassers, according to the sheriff’s office.

A 17-year-old and his friend left a Colorado high school around 3:30 p.m. and went looking for a place to take homecoming pictures this weekend, the affidavit said.

The teens drove around and saw a house with a lake and a dock. They stopped to try to contact the homeowner to get permission to take photos near the lake, according to an affidavit.

The boys parked in front of the gate, walked up the driveway to the house and knocked on the door, but received no answer, the affidavit said.

They then walked down the driveway and returned to the car, which was parked on the roadway near the property. One of the boys then took out his school binder and was writing a note to leave for the homeowner when they saw a truck pull up and block their car, the affidavit said.

The driver then got out of the truck and walked toward the front of the car, pulled a handgun from his holster and pointed it toward the boys. They then heard the handgun go off and saw the windshield glass shatter, the affidavit said.

The boys told authorities they heard the truck driver say ‘oh s—, my gun went off,” according to the affidavit.

The boy in the passenger seat then got out of the car, took off his shirt and ran around to the driver’s side and began to help his friend, applying pressure to his wounds, according to the affidavit.

The driver then tried to assist in rendering aid, but the boy pushed him away and asked why he shot his friend, the affidavit said.

The victim told the sheriff’s office he did not think the man “intentionally shot him,” and he didn’t see the gun but heard the shot. After the gun went off, the shooter tried to help the boy, according to the affidavit.

The victim was “bleeding heavily from his face and had blood running down his arm” when officers responded to the scene, according to an affidavit. The 17-year-old’s friend was holding a white t-shirt up to his face to put pressure on the wound, the affidavit said.

An apparent bullet hole in the windshield of the car was centered where the driver’s seat was located.

When an officer tried to ask the man — 38-year-old Brent Metz — if he had shot a gun, he did not answer the question and said he wanted to speak to his lawyer, the affidavit said.

Metz told authorities the gun was in the truck for safety purposes and he was placed in handcuffs, according to the affidavit.

Metz was then arrested and transported to the sheriff’s office, where he was booked into jail for first degree assault, felony managing, illegal discharge of a firearm and reckless endangerment, according to the sheriff’s office.