Texan is first arrest for FBI election squad
A Travis County man on Friday became the first person arrested by the FBI’S Election Threats Task Force, which was formed last summer after an outburst of violent rhetoric against election administrators around the country.
A federal grand jury indicted Chad Christopher Stark, 54, on charges of making interstate threats against election officials in Georgia last year. The charge carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.
Stark posted his threats on Craigslist, an online bulletin board, the FBI said.
“Georgia Patriots it’s time for us to take back our state from these Lawless treasonous traitors. 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,” the post said, offering $10,000 to those who would join in. “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 ... militia up Georgia it’s time to spill blood.”
The post went on to say that a third elections official should receive “a bullet her behind the ears” and that local law enforcement officers had betrayed their country by enforcing mask mandates and not stopping Black Lives Matter protests: “We will find you oathbreakers and we’re going to pay your family to visit your mom your dad your brothers and sisters your children your wife … we’re going to make examples of traitors to our country … death to you and all you communist friends.”
Stark, who works at a used car lot, told the judge that he does not own any guns on Friday afternoon in his first court appearance in Austin.
Threats against election officials proliferated in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, as Donald Trump falsely claimed that Democrat Joe Biden defeated him as a result of massive voter fraud. In one taped phone call that was ultimately leaked, Trump asked Georgia’s chief elections official to “find” him enough votes to overturn Biden’s slim lead in the state.
No evidence of fraud on a scale anywhere near widespread enough to swing the election’s results has ever been presented.
Nevertheless, the task force identified more than 850 threats to election officials, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr said in a press conference on Friday in Washington.
“A threat to any election official, worker, or volunteer is, at bottom, a threat to public safety and democracy. We will continue to use all available tools to protect the people who work tirelessly to maintain our proud tradition of free and fair elections,” Polite Jr. said.
Stark has several prior convictions: On cocaine charges in 1997 and 2001, and for reckless injury to a child in 2012.
On Friday, he was released from federal custody with conditions including a moratorium on heavy drinking and drug use.
Exiting the courthouse with his court-appointed defense lawyer, Stark declined to comment.