US election 2020: 'Trump Train' caravans may become a security concern on election day

Lines of honking SUVs, pickup trucks and motorcycles, flying flags for US President Donald Trump are raisingsecurityconcerns,electionexpertssay- particularly on the country's lastdayof voting.

One of thecaravans, known as "Trump Trains," sparked a confrontation on a highway outside Austin, Texas, on Friday, when it surrounded a campaign bus for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and one member allegedly sideswiped a car, leading toan FBI investigation. On Sunday, a Trump caravan in Richmond, Virginia left the roadway to drive on the grass near the Lee Monument, Richmond police said on Facebook. Members allegedly pepper sprayed a woman, police said, and they are investigating reports that an unoccupied car was shot.

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A slew of Trump Train events are planned for Tuesday, the United States' officialElectionDay, according to posts on Facebook and interviews with organizers. Several are advertised as ending or going past polling stations.Electionsecurityexpertssaythey areconcerned the rallies could break laws, intimidate voters or spiral into violent confrontations.

"The Austin thing shows that it's not noise," said Michael Greenberger, the director of the Center for Health and HomelandSecurityat the University of Maryland.

"Disruption tomorrow is going to be the kind of thing that we haven't seen in our prior federalelections," he predicts.

Most Trump Train events have gone off peacefully, and the three organizers who Reuters spoke to Mondaystressed that they condemn what happened in Texas.

A Reuters review of public Facebook events Mondayafternoon found about a dozen "Trump Train"caravansplanned forElectionDay. More are likely to be organized through private groups,expertssaid.

Several public itineraries include plans to drive past, or through, polling locations. State and federal laws make voter intimidation illegal, and many states have laws https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/electioneering.aspx against campaigning on or near polling stations.

One such event, organized on Facebook in southeastern Maryland's Wicomico County, outlines a route that goes past the Civic Center and the "electionoffice." The organizer, who gave his name as Mark F. when contacted through Facebook, told Reuters the caravan of vehicles plans to slowly drive through the parking lot of the Civic Center, one of the county's nine voting centers.

Electionofficials have asked him to change the route, he said, but as of Mondayafternoon he hadn't decided whether to accede to their request and drive on the road next to the site instead.

"There's nobody that can stop us," he said, arguing that Trump supporters had the right to be on county property making a last-minute appeal to voters. "I'm going to let everybody know that Biden's not the way to go," he said.

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He timed the event for about 3:15 in the afternoon, when he said he thinks the site will be most heavily crowded with voters.

Trump retweeted a video of the Austin caravan on Saturday, commenting "I LOVE TEXAS!" The Trump campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about Tuesday's plannedcaravans.

Greenberg, who is advising officials onsecurityat polling places, said he hoped the incident in Texas would deter more extreme Trump supporters.

"I think having the FBIsaying they're looking at Austinmaycause some people, not everyone, to think twice about interference."

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