A Texas man who threatened two Arizona officers and ballot employees has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in federal jail.
Frederick Francis Goltz, 52, who as soon as known as for a “mass taking pictures” of all ballot employees, pleaded responsible earlier this yr to interstate threatening communications.
He was sentenced Thursday by North Texas U.S. District Choose James Wesley Hendrix, who ordered the 42-month sentence adopted by three years of supervised launch following the jail time period, the Division of Justice reported in a press release.
“Election employees carry out an obligation sacred to the physique politic … important to the functioning of American democracy,” stated U.S. Legal professional Leigha Simonton following Goltz’s sentencing.
“This explicit defendant repeatedly advocated violence in opposition to not solely these males, however in opposition to their youngsters as nicely. The Justice Division won’t stand by as dangerous actors threaten members of regulation enforcement or election officers.”
Goltz additionally threatened quite a few particular people in Arizona – together with a lawyer within the Maricopa County Legal professional’s Workplace and a county elections official – on the far-right-wing social media platforms Patriots.win and Gab.com, courtroom paperwork revealed.
“It will be a disgrace if somebody obtained to [his] youngsters,” Goltz sarcastically posted in late 2021 with the cellphone quantity and tackle of one in every of his targets.
“There are some crazies on the market,” he added.
He additionally posted: “Somebody must get these individuals AND their youngsters.”
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