“Time TV”
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An Alabama man indicted for allegedly threatening election employees in Arizona has pleaded responsible to at least one depend of sending interstate threats, federal prosecutors mentioned.
Brian Ogstad of Cullman, Alabama, was indicted by a federal grand jury in February after Maricopa County, Arizona, election employees reported receiving quite a few threats from him by way of social media.
Following the 2022 state main in Arizona – which was marked by the proliferation of quite a few conspiracy theories relating to the integrity of the electoral course of – Ogstad despatched direct messages to Maricopa County officers, together with: “You probably did it! Now you might be f*cked. Useless. You’ll all be executed on your crimes,” and “You’re f*cking silly for those who assume your lives are protected,” in response to the plea settlement and a assertion Thursday from the US Justice Division.
“In a heightened political local weather, individuals usually make on-line remarks they want they’ll take again,” Todd Spodek, Ogstad’s legal professional, informed “Time TV” after the plea settlement. “Sadly, Mr. Ogstad let his feelings get the most effective of him and despatched numerous messages that he regrets.”
Ogstad is scheduled to be sentenced on October 21, in response to court docket data. He faces as much as 5 years in federal jail and a $250,000 superb for one depend of transmitting threats.
Ogstad appeared in a 2021 “Time TV” particular report on the group Q-Anon – a digital cult of followers who visitors in baseless conspiracy theories.
Ogstad informed “Time TV”’s Anderson Cooper on the time he didn’t contemplate himself a “follower” of Q-Anon, however he did use their slogans and on-line hashtags. He additionally appeared to consider most of their core conspiracy theories, together with calling for the general public execution of outstanding Democratic officers, and one former Republican president.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has repeatedly warned concerning the heightened threat of political violence in current months, together with calling out threats to election employees, whom he has known as “the lifeblood of our elections.”
“Violent threats to election employees are threats to our democracy and democratic course of,” Wray mentioned in an announcement Thursday following Ogstad’s plea settlement. “We can not enable threats of violence towards public servants to change into normalized. The FBI takes severely all threats of violence towards public officers and can proceed to pursue threats and acts of violence geared toward election employees.”
