On the same day DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek issued a warning for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to stay away from local polling sites, former two-time GOP committeeman Terry Newsome says he was confronted, called a Nazi and subjected to political intimidation by a man he described as an immigrant outside a voting location in Darien.
Newsome said the incident occurred at the Darien Park District Community Center on March 3, where a man he described as a large Hispanic male wearing a black trench coat and cowboy hat approached him as he was placing signs in support of sheriff candidate Sean Noonan.
According to Newsome, the man asked him whether he supported U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“I replied, ‘Yes, of course; I have helped Tom Homan and his team,’” Newsome told the DuPage Policy Journal. “From there he called me a Nazi.”
Newsome said the man’s behavior then became threatening.
“I had a word exchange with him,” Newsome said. “That’s when I noticed his right arm was inside his trench coat just like a gangster movie when they want to know they’re carrying a gun.”
He said the man then left the area in his pickup truck that appeared to have political signs sticking up from its bed.
“Unfortunately he just finished [placing signs] by the time I got out of my truck,” he said. “Matter of fact he was walking back towards his pickup truck when he decided to go out of his way to confront me.”
“After placing Sean’s yard signs I went inside the polling location specifically to ask them if he voted. There were about six poll workers inside. I asked if a big Hispanic guy wearing a black trench coat and cowboy hat just voted,” he said. “They said ‘no.’ One laughed. Therefore he was there just to put up yard signs.”
Newsome said he filed an incident report with the Darien Police Department around 2 p.m. the same day.
He later submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking a copy of the report that was denied by the Darien Park District “as it is related to security measures,” the District said.
In that request, Newsome wrote that after the man called him a Nazi and used other derogatory language “he placed his right hand inside his trench coat as if he was concealing a weapon.”
He submitted a separate FOIA request to the Darien Park District seeking exterior surveillance footage from the polling location between 1:15 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. that could show the vehicle entering or leaving the parking lot.
The Park District staff later said the video could not yet be released due to an active investigation.
“Unfortunately my phone was in the truck. I got my phone to film him as he left. It’s not clear but you can see in the video his black cowboy hat and him giving me the finger. You could also see the yard signs metal posts sticking up in the back of his bed,” he said.
Newsome said police have not requested the video he took of the man’s vehicle and that it’s unclear whether the incident is being investigated at all.
Terry Newsome previously met with White House Border Czar Tom Homan and Chicago Ald. Ray
Lopez to discuss immigration policy and enforcement strategies in Illinois. (Terry Newsome)
The incident occurred the same day DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek issued a strongly worded statement warning federal immigration authorities not to interfere with local elections.
In a March 3 press release titled “ICE Go Away, Do Not Even Try. You Will Fail!”, Kaczmarek said “ICE will not be allowed to interfere with DuPage County elections in any way.”
She argued that federal agents attempting to intimidate voters at polling places could violate federal law and warned that “it is a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, to deploy federal “troops or armed men” to any location where voting is taking place or elections are being held.”
Kaczmarek also said claims that undocumented immigrants vote in elections are “a myth,” and that undocumented individuals would avoid polling places because being caught could lead to deportation.
Darien Park District Community Center, site of a March 3 DuPage County polling location, where a
confrontation over political yard signs prompted a police report and FOIA requests. (Terry Newsome)
Her office also announced a hotline for residents to report sightings of ICE or other federal agents near polling locations.
“[A]ny sightings of ICE, military, or federal agents at any DuPage County polling place should be immediately reported,” Kaczmarek wrote.
Newsome said he found the timing of the statement notable.
“I find it ironic that Kaczmarek felt the need to make a theatrical comment about ‘voter intimidation being a federal crime punishable by up to five years,’” Newsome said. “She referred to ICE agents as ‘ICE thugs’ and claimed that DuPage County is ‘uniquely and inherently protected’ from ICE interfering with elections. This raises the question: Is there really a concern for any legal American voting in the county?”
He also questioned the rationale behind concerns about immigration enforcement near polling places.
“What is the actual concern if ICE is present near polling places?” Newsome said. “Democrats assert that there are no illegal voters, so why the commotion? The ‘Vote Anywhere’ policy, enacted on election day, allows voters to cast their ballots at any location within the county if ICE is at a polling station.”
“I want to ask Kaczmarek: if there are no illegal voters in DuPage County, why would any voter feel intimidated by ICE agents? It raises questions about whether Kaczmarek knows something about the Democratic voters of DuPage County that the rest of us do not.”
Newsome said he hopes the incident is being investigated.
“If Kaczmarek is genuinely concerned about voter interference, I hope she will investigate the incident,” Newsome said.
“I’m a two-time elected committeeman who was purposely confronted at a polling place with the sole purpose of intimidating me for being a Republican who supports law enforcement,” he said. “I hope that Kaczmarek leads a thorough investigation into this voter intimidation that occurred under her watch.”
Notably, Kaczmarek herself is under criminal investigation by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office over allegations that her office awarded approximately $229,000 in no-bid election contracts and mishandled aspects of budget management and election-related spending.
The probe comes amid broader scrutiny of her office’s operations, with critics arguing the alleged contracting practices could raise ethical concerns and undermine public confidence in the administration of elections.
