The Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force (ETTF) released a statement Thursday giving updates on four men in different states accused of harassing election officials as Nov. 5 nears.
Teak Brockbank, 45, from Colorado, pleaded guilty Wednesday to threatening two election officials, a judge and federal law enforcement agents between September 2021 and July of this year.
Florida man Richard Kantwill, 61, was charged Monday with sending a threat to an election official in February. He’s also accused of menacing three other people “based on their political commentary in 2019 and 2020.”
Also on Monday, 62-year-old Philadelphia resident John Pollard was charged for allegedly threatening to kill a Pennsylvania official recruiting poll watchers, according to the ETTF.
A fourth man, 60-year-old Brian Ogstad from Alabama, was sentenced this week to 30 months in prison for threatening violence against Arizona election workers after that state‘s 2022 primaries.
“As we approach Election Day, the Justice Department’s warning remains clear: Anyone who illegally threatens an election worker, official or volunteer will face the consequences,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement addressing the aforementioned developments.
The Nov. 5 election is expected to be hotly contested. Statistic experts at FiveThirtyEight show Democratic candidate Kamala Harris leading Republican nominee Donald Trump by fewer than two points.
Many Trump followers became violent after he lost the 2020 election and falsely claimed the process was rigged. The 78-year-old Queens native continues repeating those claims and warning that next month’s vote could be fixed against him.
“The fact that election workers need to be worried about their security is incomprehensible and unacceptable,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in the DOJ’s statement.
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