News

Actions

TV station finds mail equipment dismantled in Grand Rapids

Posted at 7:47 AM, Aug 20, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-20 07:47:29-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Mail sorting equipment was found dismantled outside a U.S. Postal Service facility in the Grand Rapids area, a day after the postmaster general said equipment would stay in place across the country, a TV station reported Wednesday.

WOOD-TV posted video of the equipment and a full trash bin nearby.

Amy Puhalski, president of a postal workers union in western Michigan, said six of 35 machines have been dismantled in the Grand Rapids area.

“I think that some of the damage has already been done and caused some distress to the American people and to the mail system,” Puhalski said.

A Postal Service spokeswoman, Elizabeth Najduc, declined to comment and instead referred to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s statement from Tuesday.

Widespread mail disruptions have stunned Americans and led to warnings that President Donald Trump is trying to undermine the Postal Service as he rails against mail-in ballots just as millions of people are trying vote absentee to avoid polling places during the COVID-19 crisis.

Trump’s team has insisted the president has no intention of disrupting mail delivery now or before Election Day.

“We will deliver the nation’s election mail on time,” DeJoy said Tuesday.