A man from Philadelphia is being charged with federal crimes after reportedly threatening to skin alive a state party official who was recruiting people to watch the elections. The charges were made public on Monday.
Authorities say that John Pollard, 62, sent several texts to the representative, who isn’t named in court papers. The party is also not named.
The charges come just over two weeks before the 2024 presidential election. They are part of the Justice Department’s plan to stop fears of violence and threats against election workers.
Court records show that Pollard sent the threatening messages in September in reaction to a representative’s post on social media asking for people to help “observe the polls on Election Day.”
Documents from court show that his first message said, “I’d like to be a poll watcher.”
Pollard is said to have written again, saying, “I will kill you if you don’t answer me!” when the agent didn’t answer right away.
“Your time is up, B**ch,” he wrote right away. And in a third: “I’m going to find you, skin you while you’re still alive, and use your skin for toilet paper.”
Pollard is being charged with sending threats across state lines, which is a felony punishable by up to five years in jail. Pollard does not yet have a lawyer named in the court case.
Article Source: Philadelphia man charged with allegedly making gruesome threats against person recruiting poll watchers