美国国家公共电台 NPR--Bodycam footage shows confusion over voter fraud arrests in Florida

Bodycam footage shows confusion over voter fraud arrests in Florida

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martínez and Tampa Bay Times reporter Lawrence Mower² discuss new police body camera video showing the confusion in Florida as arrests were made for voter fraud.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Video from police body cameras in Florida shows just how confused and angry some people were to learn that they were being arrested and accused of voting illegally in 2020.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER #1: So if you could put your hands behind your back, please.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Oh, my God. I'm like, voter fraud - I voted, but I ain't commit no fraud.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER #2: That's the thing. I don't know exactly what happened with it, but you do have a warrant, and that's what it's for.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Oh, my God.

MARTINEZ: The video was obtained by the Miami Herald³ and the Tampa Bay Times after 19 people were arrested in August, just hours before Republican Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters he was cracking down on voter fraud. Twelve of those who were served with warrants are Democrats⁴; at least 13 are Black people. On the line with us is Lawrence Mower. He reports for both the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald from Tallahassee. Lawrence, why were these people arrested?

LAWRENCE MOWER: They're arrested because they're accused of basically from - by Governor Ron DeSantis of voting illegally, basically knowingly violating the state voter fraud law, you know. And when - obviously, these people were clearly confused about why they were being arrested in the first place.

MARTINEZ: Yeah. And you could hear that in the audio clip that we played. I mean, what was the response from some of the other suspects?

MOWER: Well, it was pretty common. There was one person, Nathan Hart - he's a registered sex offender⁵ - said that when he went to go change his driver's license⁶, presumably at the DMV, that he - the person at the DMV told him, hey, why don't you sign up and register to vote? And he said, I'm pretty sure I can't because I'm a felon⁷. And the person said - at the DMV presumably said, well, hey, if you can vote, they'll let you vote. You know, just fill it out anyway. And if you can't vote, they won't let you vote. And, obviously, that's not what happened because these people, all of them were issued voter ID cards by - after checks by the secretary of state and allowed to vote. They weren't stopped from voting. And so now they stand accused of basically knowingly voting when presumably they were supposed to know that they were ineligible⁸.

MARTINEZ: What about the police officers that made the arrests? How did they respond?

MOWER: Yeah, that's pretty extraordinary. Local police were helping⁹ state police carry out these arrests. And in the case of Nathan Hart, I just mentioned, you know, he recounts how, you know, he went to the DMV and they said you can vote - or sign up and see if you can vote. And the police officer actually lends him advice. The officer says, then there's your defense¹⁰. You know, what I'm saying? That sounds like a loophole. Another officer is overheard saying, rather dismissively, I've never seen these charges before in my entire life. So these officers were - you know, seem fairly sympathetic to these people's situations.

MARTINEZ: Has anyone from the state of Florida said anything about this?

MOWER: Not yet, although there have been some state lawmakers who have said that these obviously raised questions about whether these people were knowingly violating the law. If they're so confused here, why are they being accused of knowingly violating the law?

MARTINEZ: Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald reporter Lawrence Mower, thank you very much.

MOWER: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 mower   

n.割草机

参考例句：

• We need a lawn mower to cut the grass.我们需要一台草坪修剪机来割草。
• Your big lawn mower is just the job for the high grass.割高草时正需要你的大割草机。

3 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 offender   

n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者

参考例句：

• They all sued out a pardon for an offender.他们请求法院赦免一名罪犯。
• The authorities often know that sex offenders will attack again when they are released.当局一般都知道性犯罪者在获释后往往会再次犯案。

6 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

7 felon   

n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的

参考例句：

• He's a convicted felon.他是个已定罪的重犯。
• Hitler's early "successes" were only the startling depredations of a resolute felon.希特勒的早期“胜利 ”，只不过是一个死心塌地的恶棍出人意料地抢掠得手而已。

8 ineligible   

adj.无资格的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The new rules have made thousands more people ineligible for legal aid.新规定使另外数千人不符合接受法律援助的资格。
• The country had been declared ineligible for World Bank lending.这个国家已被宣布没有资格获得世界银行的贷款。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。