VIDEO: El Paso County Judge Gets Into Altercation At Polling Site
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office confirmed that an altercation happened at a polling location in East El Paso.
According to a news release, it happened at 3:50 p.m. at the Marty Robbins Recreation Center, located at 11620 Vistal Del Sol Dr. It was during early voting in El Paso.
The news release only indicates the altercation happened between a campaign worker and a citizen, but we learned from our news partners at ABC-7 that it involved El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego.
There were no arrests made at the scene, but Judge Samaniego said during an interview on KVIA that he expects charges to be filed. Local political organizer Sammy Carrejo, who is most known for his involvement in the “Reopen Texas” rallies during the COVID-19 shutdown, was also involved in the incident. Carrejo approached Samaniego while recording a video - which he shared with ABC-7. You can check out the video below.
Samaniego also said that Carrejo shoved his campaign manager and knocked her phone, (*twice* - allegedly), right out of her hands. She then called the Sheriff's Office who is currently investigating.
Investigators with the Sheriff's Office say "a report was generated and an investigation will be conducted to determine what charges, if any, are appropriate."
In the interview with KVIA, Samaniego said, "It's just very sad that people have to see this. We tried to calm the situation down. My campaign manager got between us, got concerned about what he was trying to accomplish. He kept yelling."
Samaniego urged El Pasoans to not let this incident deter them from heading to the polls for fear of their safety.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 8.