Man arrested for making ‘violent threat’ to Arizona election official in 2022

A San Diego man was arrested Thursday for allegedly leaving a voicemail on the personal cell phone of a 2022 Arizona election official.

William Hyde left a violent threat on a Maricopa County Recorder’s Office employee’s phone voicemail “on or about November 29, 2022.” Announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Mr. Hyde, 52, is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court in San Diego on Friday.

A newly unsealed indictment alleges Hyde committed two crimes in one day after the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and officials met in November to certify the 2022 election results in Arizona’s largest county. It is suspected that he left a voicemail.

Hyde reportedly said in a voicemail: “You want to rig the election? You want to steal real votes from the American people? I’m coming. [expletive].That’s better [expletive] hide. “

“Threats against election officials are at the heart of our democracy,” Tara McGrath, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, said in a statement. “Even one incident has a ripple effect. This office will aggressively prosecute any attempt to intimidate, intimidate, or intimidate election officials who perform these important duties.”

Arizona, one of the few states that helped decide the 2020 presidential election, has been at the center of political controversy in recent cycles after contested election results and election officials faced threats and intimidation. It becomes.

State officials certified Arizona’s 2022 election results in early December 2022. With Maricopa County a hotspot for allegations of voter disenfranchisement, the once-obscure law is now a high-stakes certification process.

Hyde, a California resident, was charged with communicating interstate threats. The Justice Department said if he is convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI San Diego Field Office investigated this incident with assistance from the FBI Phoenix Field Office. The case is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, which was launched in 2021 to address the growing threat of violence against election workers.