"Today in the Northern District of Georgia and in the District of Arizona, the Justice Department secured guilty pleas in two criminal cases involving defendants charged with making illegal threats against members of the election community. The guilty pleas follow two recent sentencings in the District of Arizona and the Northern District of Texas. To date, the Justice Department's Election Threats Task Force has charged 14 cases involving threats against the election community and secured nine convictions," says a Justice Department press release heralding the Thursday twofer of guilty pleas by demented MAGA terrorists Josh Russell of Ohio and Chad Stark of Texas.
Neither of the press releases identified the targets by name. In Stark's case, on January 5, 2021 the asshole posted a Craigslist ad titled "Georgia Patriots it's time to kill [Official A] the Chinese agent – $10,000" with the description "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," per the press release. Reuters reported in early 2022 that the threat specifically mentioned Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. "If we want our country back we have to exterminate these people. One good loyal Patriot deer hunter in camo and a rifle can send a very clear message to these corrupt governors.. milita up Georgia it's time to spill blood… we need to pay a visit to [Official C] and her family as well and put a bullet her behind the ears," Stark continued. It's less clear who "Official C" is but we would not be surprised if it were Ruby Freeman as this was just three days after Trump ranted about her to Raffensperger.
In Russell's case again the DOJ redacts the name with "This message is for traitor [Victim-1's full name]. You've drug your feet, you've done nothing, to protect our election for 2020. You're committing election fraud, you're starting to do it again, from day one. You're the enemy of the United States, you're a traitor to this country, and you better put your sh[inaudible], your [expletive] affairs in order, 'cause your days [inaudible] are extremely numbered. America's coming for you, and you will pay with your life, you communist [expletive] traitor [expletive]," from an August 2, 2022 voicemail, however in October, before Russell was even arrested, AZFamily.com printed the full transcript of the call naming then-Secretary of State, now Governor Katie Hobbs as the target.
Russell left at least two more messages, the last on November 15th, 2022, a day after the governor's race had been called for Hobbs, warning "We will not endure your crimes on America another day. You've been busted, over and over again. We will not wait for you to be drugged through court. A war is coming for you. The entire nation is coming for you. And we will stop, at no end, until you are in the ground. You're a traitor to this nation. You're a [expletive] piece of [expletive] communist, and you just signed your own death warrant. Get your affairs in order, cause, your days are very short."
We can guess "expletive" meant "fucking" and "shit," respectively. Stark, 55, faces two years in federal prison while Russell, 44, is looking at five when both are sentenced in the coming months.