Current:Home > NewsTexas man sentenced 2 years in prison for threatening Georgia election workers after 2020 election-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Texas man sentenced 2 years in prison for threatening Georgia election workers after 2020 election
View Date:2024-12-23 19:13:29
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas man who was the first arrest by a Justice Department task force that investigates threats to election workers has been sentenced to two years in prison over posts made following the 2020 election, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Chad Christopher Stark, 55, was accused of posting threatening messages on Craigslist about killing government officials in Georgia. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of communicating interstate threats.
Prosecutors say Stark, who is from suburban Austin, urged Georgia residents on social media to “militia up” and called for shooting several unnamed officials and judges. The messages were posted on Jan. 5, 2021, the day before Congress was set to ratify the Electoral College’s votes.
“Christopher Stark threatened the lives of multiple election workers in an attempt to prevent them from doing their job,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “Today’s sentencing demonstrates the FBI’s resolute commitment to securing American elections from any attempts to undermine their integrity.”
A federal public defender for Stark did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Stark’s arrest was the first by the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, which was launched in 2021 amid a rising tide of violent threats against people who count and secure the vote. The threats followed former President Donald Trump making repeated unproven claims that election fraud cost him the 2020 presidential election.
veryGood! (88844)
Related
- Satire publication The Onion acquires Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
- Derek Chauvin to ask U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction in murder of George Floyd
- Anheuser-Busch CEO Addresses Bud Light Controversy Over Dylan Mulvaney
- Titanic Actor Lew Palter Dead at 94
- Will Trump curb transgender rights? After election, community prepares for worst
- Climate Activists and Environmental Justice Advocates Join the Gerrymandering Fight in Ohio and North Carolina
- What to know about 4 criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump
- Singapore's passport dethrones Japan as world's most powerful
- Atlanta man dies in shootout after police chase that also kills police dog
- GM will stop making the Chevy Camaro, but a successor may be in the works
Ranking
- Chris Evans Shares Thoughts on Starting a Family With Wife Alba Baptista
- Disney World board picked by DeSantis says predecessors stripped them of power
- Los Angeles investigating after trees used for shade by SAG-AFTRA strikers were trimmed by NBCUniversal
- Amazon is cutting another 9,000 jobs as tech industry keeps shrinking
- Elton John Details Strict Diet in His 70s
- Fish on Valium: A Multitude of Prescription Drugs Are Contaminating Florida’s Waterways and Marine Life
- ‘A Trash Heap for Our Children’: How Norilsk, in the Russian Arctic, Became One of the Most Polluted Places on Earth
- You won the lottery or inherited a fortune. Now what?
Recommendation
-
Secret Service Agent Allegedly Took Ex to Barack Obama’s Beach House
-
Miami woman, 18, allegedly tried to hire hitman to kill her 3-year-old son
-
Fossil Fuel Companies Stand to Make Billions From Tax Break in Democrats’ Build Back Better Bill
-
Sophia Culpo Seemingly Shades Ex Braxton Berrios and His Rumored Girlfriend Alix Earle
-
Anti-abortion advocates press Trump for more restrictions as abortion pill sales spike
-
UNEP Chief Inger Andersen Says it’s Easy to Forget all the Environmental Progress Made Over the Past 50 Years. Climate Change Is Another Matter
-
Is the Amazon Approaching a Tipping Point? A New Study Shows the Rainforest Growing Less Resilient
-
Lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Chew for 5 hours in a high-stakes hearing about the app