A person who known as for a “mass shooting of poll workers” and threatened two Arizona county officers and their households over the 2022 election was sentenced on Thursday to a few and a half years in federal jail, prosecutors mentioned.
The man, Frederick Francis Goltz, 52, pleaded responsible in April to 2 counts of interstate threatening communications in connection along with his threats to 2 Republican Maricopa County officers in Arizona, the authorities mentioned: Stephen Richer, the county recorder, and Tom Liddy, the county lawyer’s civil division chief.
Mr. Goltz, who’s a Canadian citizen and lived in Lubbock, Texas, believed in 2022 that rampant voter fraud was occurring in Arizona, prosecutors mentioned, so he resorted to on-line threats, saying in a submit on a right-wing discussion board website that referred to Maricopa County officers: “Someone needs to get these people AND their children. The children are the most important message to send.”
His threats continued for weeks. He wrote in an internet discussion board that he was “willing to take lives” with the intention to fend off a “tyrannical government,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas mentioned in a press release.
Mr. Richer mentioned in a press release learn aloud by a prosecutor on Thursday that whereas he had been the individual instantly threatened within the case, “the impact of such threats is felt by a much larger community: the thousands of committed election workers who operate our democratic processes.”
Mr. Liddy testified through the sentencing listening to that his spouse and his 4 kids had been assigned round the clock safety and given physique armor in response to Mr. Goltz’s threats.
Mr. Goltz’s lawyer, Michael L. King, didn’t instantly reply to calls looking for touch upon Friday. The two election officers who had been focused additionally didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
The case has highlighted how right-wing skepticism of election outcomes has typically fueled threats towards election officers, significantly in battleground states. Such animosity has prompted a number of beleaguered officers throughout the nation to resign from their election posts.
The case additionally underscores the damaging impact that on-line disinformation has had, as aggrieved social media posts name for threatening actions with real-world penalties.
In November 2022, shortly after the midterms, Mr. Goltz posted threats to ballot election staff on Patriots.win below the identify “FreeSpeechMaster,” in accordance with a prison grievance. That month, he additionally posted Mr. Liddy’s dwelling deal with, phone quantity and commented that “it would be a shame if someone got to” his kids, the grievance states.
On Nov. 23, 2022, Mr. Goltz famous in a submit that Mr. Richer had a spouse however wasn’t certain if he had kids, the grievance states.
“Kids are off limits,” one consumer replied.
“No,” Mr. Goltz replied, in accordance with court docket paperwork. “NOTHING is off limits.”
He then mentioned that he wished somebody would “send a message” to Arizona by going after Mr. Richer’s kids.
Later that 12 months, on Dec. 1, Mr. Goltz wrote he was “willing to take lives” and that the kids had been “not off limits, either,” the grievance states.
The F.B.I. shared the posts with Mr. Liddy, who informed the company that he felt “afraid for himself and his family,” prosecutors mentioned.
Dr. Yotam Ophir, a professor of communication on the University at Buffalo who researches misinformation, mentioned by cellphone on Friday that former President Donald J. Trump is liable for nearly all election fraud misinformation, which he has amplified for years, significantly after dropping the 2020 presidential election.
“In the past, we had a hope that inciteful, violent, hate-driven misinformation online would stay online,” Dr. Ophir mentioned. “But I think in recent years, unfortunately, it’s becoming clear that what starts in the dark corners of the internet, it doesn’t stay there.”
He mentioned it appeared that the authorized system and the intelligence neighborhood had been starting to appreciate “the massive threat that online digital environments can have toward democracy.”
The man who attacked former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband final 12 months appeared to have a copious on-line presence as he shared offended and paranoid postings on a weblog. Nearly three-quarters of individuals throughout 19 international locations consider that the unfold of false info on-line is a “major threat,” in accordance with a survey launched by the Pew Research Center final 12 months.
“In recent years, it became clearer that people who are being radicalized online, especially on the far-right, pose a real threat,” Dr. Ophir mentioned. “And again, it doesn’t end online.”
Source: www.nytimes.com