As people across the US get ready for the next election, threats have been made against poll officials. This is especially bad in Arizona, where threats and violence have caused at least one official to lose their race in most counties.
It was reported that officials were getting violent threats because they were “dutifully and reliably doing their jobs.” According to John Keller, the day manager at the task force, the threats of violence were like an “attack on the very foundation of our democracy—our elections.”
He also said that people who work with elections were now “targeted, attacked, and made the scapegoat.”
Continuing, he said that making threats against government leaders was not protected speech and that people would be held responsible. When Joshua Russell pleaded guilty to making a threatening message, he got thirty months in prison.
According to court records, he left three threatening voicemails in which he called a government official a commie, a traitor, and an enemy of the United States.
“You better get your [expletive] life in order, because your days are very short.” In one message, he said, “America is coming for you, and you will pay with your life.”
Threats are getting worse and government workers all over the country are being affected by them. Numerous people have quit their jobs because their families have been threatened. One thing that all threats have had in common is that many people have threatened officials in ways that seem to “wrong” them.
