'F around and find out': Philadelphia DA warns against would-be election meddlers

Krasner said he had a "patriotic team" that was ready for any shenanigans that arise on Election Day, including attempts to intimidate voters into supporting their chosen candidate.

By Misty Severi

Published: November 1, 2024 3:59pm

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on Thursday told those thinking of trying to mess with the city's elections on Thursday that "jail cells" and handcuffs are ready if they do.

Former President Donald Trump has criticized the predominantly Democratic city in 2020, and following the presidential election. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani also hosted a press conference in Philadelphia after the last presidential election that promoted claims of voter fraud in the City of Brotherly Love. Trump also recently alleged that leftist activists are posing as election officials in Philadelphia to suppress votes.

Krasner told NBC News on Thursday that he had a "patriotic" team that was ready for any shenanigans that may arise on Election Day, including attempts to intimidate voters into supporting their chosen candidate.

"If people think they’re going to erase votes in Philly or terrorize people who are here to protect those votes, we’ve got some handcuffs, we’ve got some jail cells, and we’ve got some Philadelphia juries who want to hear why, exactly, it is that somebody thought they could erase our votes or terrorize our elections workers,” Krasner said. "As they say in Philly, if somebody wants to come and do that, they can F around and find out."

Krasner also accused Trump of already trying to plant seeds of doubt in the election in Pennsylvania's largest city, and said he is already working with the FBI on preparations in case things do escalate in the city either during or after the election.

“We do have serious concerns that we might see something similar to or worse than what we saw in the last presidential cycle,” Krasner said.

The district attorney also noted that getting a strong message out about consequences of messing with the election ahead of time has “deterred a lot of stupid behavior” in previous elections.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.