A Brazilian man was arrested in Miami, Florida, United States, this Sunday, the 4th, for impersonating an officer of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and walking “aggressively” around the Kendall campus, the site that was being used for voting in the Brazilian presidential election. Estadão could not locate the man’s defense.
According to the arrest report, cited by the Miami Herald, Danilo Silva, 46, wore a cap and a jacket from ICE, sunglasses and a mask covering his face, in addition to boots with a “tactical” appearance, while walking between the buildings where voting was taking place.
Uniformed and plainclothes police officers went to the campus when the first reports of his presence began to arrive. At some point, another man confronted Danilo and the two began to argue; it was then that the officers intervened.
Silva told the police that he had voted before, wearing a Brazil national team jersey. He would have shown a “defiant” attitude and said that he was not committing a crime by dressing as an ICE agent without actually being one.
After voting, the man said he had gone to the car and put on the uniform, which had been bought online. He stated that he did this “to see the reaction of people,” according to the police report.
When placed in the back of the patrol car, Danilo threatened a detective and said that “he would regret having made this decision.” He then stopped threatening the detective and tried to bribe him.
“I’ll make sure you get paid if you let me go. I can show you right here on my phone. Please take the phone and I’ll show you. We’ll pay you, but you have to let me go first,” said the Brazilian.
The police took Silva to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on charges of voter intimidation, conspiracy to commit bribery, improper use of police insignias and disorderly conduct.
As of Monday, the 5th, a judge had not yet set his bail for the voter intimidation charge. Bail for the other charges was US$2,650, according to the prison records.
