The Detroit NAACP branch announced members and area attorneys will monitor polls across the city and state on Election Day to try to prevent voter intimidation or voter suppression.

The group said that if any voters feel threatened by gun-carrying individuals "watching" the polls, police, and prosecutors will be contacted.

A report was recently released that said Michigan is one of five states at high risk for armed group activity around November 3 Election Day.

The NAACP also pointed out President Donald Trump who initially refused to condemn white supremacy during the first presidential debate. He asked to denounce white supremacy, but Trump told a white supremacist group, “The Proud Boys” to “stand back and stand by.”

"We're not police officers, but we have eyes and we have ears," said Chui Karega, a lawyer and general counsel for the Detroit branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "We will stand tall and we will be present to assist in the enforcing of the law. We will be virtually at every polling place in this city, in this county, in this state — making sure that if anything happens, anything goes wrong, anybody starts brandishing a weapon we will be there. And we will act within the full authority of the law to prosecute these people to stop their actions and to make sure that everyone has the right to vote and their vote be counted."

The Detroit NAACP has a hotline number where people can call on Election Day. Detroit-area law enforcement has been contacted about the group's plans, according to branch President the Rev. Wendell Anthony.

Anthony also questioned the need for bringing guns and rifles to voting sites.

"Why would you be standing out there with an AR-15 or AK-47? Anthony said. "What's the purpose of that? Nothing more than intimidation and to try to discourage people from voting."

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson recently banned the open carry of firearms at voting locations, clerk’s offices, and absent voting counting boards on Election Day.

"This is not a Second Amendment issue," Anthony said. "This is a right to vote issue. We want people to have access to the voting booth unmolested, uncontested, and unintimidated."

Photo: Getty Images

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