Man who allegedly threatened to kill Arizona election official facing federal charges

An Ohio man who allegedly threatened to kill an Arizona state election official throughout the 2022 midterm election season is now dealing with federal prices, the Justice Division introduced Wednesday.

Joshua Russell, 44, allegedly left voicemails for an unnamed election official who labored for the Arizona secretary of state’s workplace within the lead-up to the midterm elections, in response to prosecutors.

“The one cause you’re nonetheless strolling round on this planet is as a result of we’re ready for the midterms to see you prosecuted for the crimes you will have performed to our nation,” Russell stated in a September voicemail, in response to court docket paperwork.

His arrest is the latest case introduced by the Justice Division’s Election Threats Job Power, which Lawyer Common Merrick Garland introduced final 12 months to handle the rise in threats towards election officers. The duty power has introduced not less than six federal circumstances thus far, and native officers in Colorado, Arizona and Michigan have every pursued a prison case for threats towards election staff.

In keeping with prosecutors, Russell repeatedly referred to as the Arizona election official a “traitor,” and claimed the worker didn’t cease election fraud in 2020 when baseless claims of fraud had been widespread, including that he believed the official wasn’t doing sufficient to guard the latest election.

Russell additionally allegedly left a message for the official after the election, saying: “We is not going to endure your crimes on America one other day. You’ve been busted, over and over.”

“A struggle is coming for you. The whole nation is coming for you,” he continued, in response to prosecutors.

Russell is charged with three counts of creating a threatening interstate communication and three counts of creating a threatening interstate phone name. If convicted, he faces as much as 5 years in jail for every rely of creating an interstate risk and two years in jail for every rely of creating a threatening interstate phone name.

Russell doesn’t have an lawyer listed in court docket filings.