Council of American-Islamic Relations Minnesota v. Atlas Aegis, LLC

Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 states that, “No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote.”  

In October 2020, Atlas Aegis, LLC, a private security firm representing several unnamed clients, posted an advertisement on various websites and social media platforms seeking to hire former special operations forces members to act as armed security around polling places, residents, and businesses in Minnesota to protect them from looting and destruction. In an interview with the Washington Post, Atlas Aegis’s chairman claimed the armed guards would be deployed to protect polling places from being destroyed by “Antifa.” He declined to name Atlas Aegis’s clients, to specify where in Minnesota the guards would operate, or to specify their numbers. 

On October 20, 2020, LWV of Minnesota and the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Minnesota (CAIR-Minnesota) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota asserting Atlas Aegis’s attempt to recruit armed guards to “protect” polling places violated Section 11(b). The plaintiffs requested a court order forbidding Atlas Aegis to (1) recruit armed guards to station at polling places and (2) take action to intimidate voters or prevent them from voting before and during the November 3, 2020, election and while the votes were being counted.  

On October 29, 2020, the court granted a preliminary injunction and imposed the following conditions on defendants, who were immediately barred from:  

1. Deploying armed agents within 2,500 feet of Minnesota polling places or otherwise monitoring Minnesota polling places both during early in‐person voting and on Election Day, November 3, 2020; 
2. Threatening to deploy armed agents to Minnesota polling places; and 
3. Otherwise intimidating, threatening, or coercing voters in connection with voting activities in Minnesota. 

Subsequently, the court approved a consent decree agreed upon by the parties on February 16, 2021, in which Atlas Aegis agreed not to deploy armed agents at Minnesota election sites, or otherwise intimidate, threaten, or coerce voters, persons aiding voters, or persons engaged in tabulating, counting, or reporting votes in Minnesota, among other provisions.  

LWV of Minnesota and its co-plaintiffs were represented in this matter by Lathrop GPM LLP, Emery Celli Brinkerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, and Free Speech for People.