Anyone in the US who threatens election officials with death should look elsewhere in the run-up to Election Day. The US Department of Justice is cracking down on the craziest posters these days, making sure they get a quick knock on doors and even new, state-funded accommodation in federal facilities.
A Colorado man appeared in court Monday after being arrested for making online death threats against election officials, judges and federal agencies such as the CIA, ATF and FBI, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. Just in case it wasn’t clear, it’s not wise to make threats against agencies such as the FBI.
Teak Brockbank, a 45-year-old man from Cortez, Colorado, made the threats on the right-wing social media platforms Gab and Rumble, two sites considered safe spaces for Trump supporters, anti-Semites, white supremacists and other dopey extremists. Brockbank made the threats between September 2021 and August 2022, according to the Justice Department, but was not arrested until Friday.
A message allegedly written by Brockbank and sent to poll workers in Colorado and Arizona said: “Once these people are executed, the others will melt like snowflakes and turn on each other. … That is the only way. So those of us who have the courage to do what must be done should mentally prepare ourselves for what we are all going to do!!!!!! It is time.”
Another message was addressed to the CIA, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and was quoted by the DOJ as saying: “ATF, CIA, FBI show up at my house, I shoot them some shit first, no warning!!! Then I call the sheriff!!! After everything these motherfuckers have done, I am perfectly within my rights to just drop them as soon as they step on my property! Right in the law.”
Another message was addressed to a Colorado judge and read: “I could take my gun and put a bullet in that man’s head and send him immediately to our Creator to explain himself. I would be entitled to do so!!! Not only entitled, but obligated to the people in my family who fought and died for the freedom of this country. … What else can I do but kill that man myself?”
The threats were investigated by the FBI’s Denver field office and the Justice Department’s Election Threat Task Force.
“Threats of violence against public officials are a danger to our democracy, and the arrests and indictments announced today make clear that the Department of Justice will ensure perpetrators are held accountable for their actions,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement posted online.
And this guy won’t be the last to be charged with such threats, as the various branches of the US government are clearly looking to get the most dangerous right-wing extremist assholes off the streets in the run-up to the November election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
“As alleged, Teak Brockbank has made death threats against multiple state employees on social media. Among other things, he allegedly claimed that it was ‘time’ to execute two state election officials and that he was obligated to put ‘a bullet’ in the head of a Colorado state judge,” Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, chief of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in a statement Monday. “Public employees must be able to do their jobs without fear. The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who threaten state officials with violence.”
Brockbank faces five years in a federal prison for the threats.
