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Federal officials arrest a Nevada man, 50, for threatening state election worker telling her she was ‘going to f***ing die' for 'stealing the 2020 election from Donald Trump'
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] And I thought 'Biden's an idiot' was going to get me in trouble!
  • Retired US Marine Gjergi Luke Juncaj, 50, of Las Vegas was taken into custody on Wednesday

  • He is charged with four counts of making threatening phone calls, DOJ said

  • The Justice Department said he told the worker: 'I hope you all go to jail for treason. I hope your children get molested. You are all going to (expletive) die'

  • If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison on each count
Juncaj's threats against Staci McElyea, a worker in the Nevada Secretary of State's Office, were first revealed in a Reuters investigation published on Sept. 8.

The story detailed how Juncaj repeatedly told McElyea that she and her colleagues would be killed, according to her documentation of the calls, which were made on Jan. 7, 2021.

After the threats, McElyea, a former U.S. Marine, called the Nevada Capitol Patrol and sent the state police agency a transcript of the calls, Reuters previously reported.

An officer contacted the man, whom police would later identify as Juncaj.

Despite Juncaj's multiple threatening calls, state police decided not to charge Juncaj, Reuters found.

State detectives concluded that Juncaj's threats were 'protected' political speech and not criminal, because the suspect merely said he 'wished' election workers would die, according to a summary of the case.

The Reuters report, however, contradicted the detective's assessment.

McElyea's transcripts of the calls show that the man repeatedly told her she and her colleagues would be killed.

Juncaj could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday by Reuters. He said in an interview for the September report that he 'didn't threaten anybody.'

Following the Reuters story, the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation into Juncaj, according to a Nevada state government source.

The indictment is the task force's second case, and the third known federal charge overall for threatening election workers since the 2020 vote.

In December 2020, federal prosecutors charged a New Hampshire woman with threatening a Michigan official.

The Justice Department's election threats task force was announced last June, shortly after Reuters published reports documenting more than 850 threats and menacing messages to U.S. election workers.

These included about 100 that legal experts say could be prosecuted under federal law. Almost all of the threats have been inspired by Trump's relentless false claims that the 2020 vote was 'rigged' against him, Reuters found.

Justice Department officials say they are now investigating dozens of similar cases.

The task force revealed its first arrest on Jan. 21, when it charged a Texas man with making violent threats against Georgia election and government officials.

Prosecutors accused Chad Christopher Stark of posting a Craigslist message on Jan. 5, 2021 entitled, 'Georgia Patriots it's time to kill.' Reuters couldn't reach Stark, who will appear in court on Feb. 4.

Federal authorities are also investigating an anonymous man who threatened Vermont officials, local law enforcement sources familiar with the probe told Reuters.

That man's threats were featured in a November Reuters investigation.

In response to that report, Vermont lawmakers are considering new legislation to make it easier to prosecute people who threaten election officials.

Election officials all over the country are being threatened and harassed, and those engaging in this domestic terrorism must be held accountable, said David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research.
Posted by: Skidmark 2022-01-29
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=623556