A caravan of President Donald Trump supporters showed up outside a polling site in Fairfax County, Virginia, over the weekend as hundreds lined up for early in-person voting.
Democrats say the group was trying to scare off voters at the Fairfax County Government Center on Saturday.
"The primary thing for voter intimidation, in my view, was driving around the parking lot … with motorcycles, big vehicles and flags, honking their horns and yelling," said Bryan Graham, chair of the Fairfax County Democratic Party.
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The Fairfax GOP says Democrats are embellishing the situation.
"At no point do I think it was meant to, nor did it, intimidate voters." said Sean Rastatter with the Fairfax County GOP.
The group of Trump supporters started in Manassas with a rally.
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"Who's ready for another four years of President Donald J. Trump?" a man with a mic asked the crowd, which responded with cheers.
They then drove to the only early in-person voting location currently open in Fairfax County.
"We wanted to take it to the parking lot and let people know that President Trump is a great candidate for them to vote for," Rastatter said.
Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano says his office will prosecute voter intimidation cases.
By law, voters may rally at polling places as long as they stay at least 40 feet from the entrance and don't block any pathways.
"At no point was the sidewalk blocked. Folks were allowed to vote. I, personally, don't think there was any reason to feel intimidated," Rastatter said.
News4 obtained a copy of a police report filed on Saturday. The responding officer in the report says, "there was not actual blocking of the doors or actual preventing of any voter from entering the building and there were multiple pathways that were unobstructed to get into the building."
On Monday, outside the government center, former governor Terry McAuliffe said he heard Trump supporters were shouting at voters.
"No need for calling people names, using obscenities against individuals. Come on, there's no place for that. Grow up," McAuliffe said.
Right before News4 talked with McAuliffe, our crews saw a direct result from Saturday's incident.
The event was set up in the roundabout, but county officials moved news crews across the street so they weren't near the lines of people voting.
County officials say they won't allow any future events in that area when voters are nearby.
Fairfax County says in the first two days of early in-person voting, it tallied 315 percent more ballots than it did in 2016.
