U.S. charges Texas man for threatening Georgia election officials

The U.S. Justice Department on Friday announced it has charged a Texas man with making violent threats against local election officials in Georgia, in the first criminal case of its kind since the 2020 presidential election. The case against Chad Christopher Stark of Leander, Texas, was the first to be brought by a special new task force formed last year to focus on investigating threats against local election workers and volunteers.

"An important part of keeping the American people safe is protecting those who serve the public from violence and unlawful threats of violence," Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Friday during a speech before the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "There is no First Amendment right to unlawfully threaten to harm or kill someone. ... The Justice Department will continue to do all it can to hold accountable those who target public servants with violence."

A Justice Department spokesman said Stark is expected to make an initial court appearance Friday afternoon in Texas. He is charged with one count of making interstate threats. The indictment alleges that on Jan. 5 of last year, he posted a message on Craigslist entitled "Georgia Patriot's it's time to kill" and referenced an unnamed official who is only referred to as "Official A."

The message referred to the official as a "Chinese agent," the indictment said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)