The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday it arrested and charged a Texas man over allegedly sending death threats to election-related government officials in Georgia.
Chad Christopher Stark, a 54-year-old man from Leander, was arrested by the FBI and has been charged with one count of communicating interstate threats, the federal agency said in a statement. This is the first known criminal case brought by the DOJ’s Election Threats Task Force, which launched in July 2021.
Stark posted a message entitled: “Georgia Patriots it’s time to kill” on the advertisements website Craigslist, according to the indictment. The post included at least three unidentified Georgian election officials.
“It’s time to kill [Official A] the Chinese agent—$10,000,” the message stated. “It’s time to invoke our Second Amendment right it’s time to put a bullet in the treasonous Chinese [Official A].”
“Then we work our way down to [Official B] the local and federal corrupt judges,” it went on to say, concluding that after terminating “Official B”—it’s time to “pay a visit to [Official C] and her family as well and put a bullet her [sic] behind the ears,” the indictment quoted him as saying.
It’s not immediately clear who the government officials were that the DOJ’s indictment says Stark identified as “treasonous traitors,” making them his “targets.”
Stark also appears to be particularly frustrated about the Democratic Party-sponsored street militia, Black Lives Matter, and Antifa, saying the violent militia groups are responsible for much destruction in the United States, accusing authorities of just “[standing] down and watch” as they destroyed cities and killed citizens.
“Let’s be very clear to our local law enforcement who have stood down and watch BLM [and] Antifa destroy our country and kill our citizens, yet you’ll step up to stop Patriot supporters you’ll enforce face mask and you’ll close American businesses???” The indictment quoted Stark as saying.
The suspect was scheduled to make his initial appearance on Friday at the federal courthouse in Austin, Texas, in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Stark’s arrest confirms the agency’s pursuit of justice commitment “against those who choose to threaten violence against anyone participating in our elections.”
“Election workers striving to protect our right to a fair and democratic process deserve nothing less than the utmost safety and assurance they can accomplish their roles without interference,” Wray said.
The matter is one of “dozens” of such cases under federal investigation, said Kenneth A. Polite Jr., the assistant attorney general for the department’s criminal division. Federal officials have declined to elaborate on Polite’s statement about “dozens” of open investigations into election threats.
The latest indictment by the task force is only the second known federal charge for threatening election workers since the 2020 vote. In December 2020, federal prosecutors charged a New Hampshire woman with threatening a Michigan official.
The task force’s indictment of Stark “sends a critical message that threatening an election official or worker will be treated as a threat to our democracy,” said Matt Masterson, a Republican who ran election security at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security between 2018 to 2020.
Reuters contributed to this report.
