SAN ANTONIO — Lidia Martinez, an 87-year-old LULAC volunteer, said she was targeted by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during a recent raid of her San Antonio home.
"They scared the hell out of me," Martinez told CBS News after nine officers with tactical gear and firearms showed up on Aug. 20.
Martinez said the officers made her stand outside in her nightgown while they searched her home as part of an investigation by Paxton into allegations of voter fraud.
"My nightgown and I had all these policemen around me. It was embarrassing, humiliating, I was so angry. It was horrible," Martinez said.
They seized her phone, computer, personal calendar, blank voter registration forms and her certificate to conduct voter registration, according to Martinez.
She's been a LULAC member for over 35 years and works to expand voter registration among seniors and veterans in South Texas.
"I feel that they're going to stop a lot of us from going out and doing our work, and that's what they want," Martinez told Omar Villafranca.
On Monday, LULAC leaders called for a federal investigation into the searches.
"This is a political maneuver because of the timing of it. It's only 70 days before the presidential election. They have been investigating these allegations of voter fraud for two years, so why go after them now? It seems very, very strategically and politically motivated," Greater Houston LULAC 4967 President Sergio Lira said.
The nation's oldest and largest Hispanic and Latin American civil rights organization said Paxton is trying to intimidate Latino voters but they're going to fight back.
"This is a free country, this is not Russia," Martinez said.
Paxton's office said in its news release it would continue to conduct undercover operations led by its Election Integrity Unit.