An indictment accusing a Florida man of threatening to kill his political opponent in 2021 was made public by the Justice Department on Friday.
William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg, Florida, was accused with making threats against two individuals, one of whom the DOJ claimed was his main rival in the Florida 13th Congressional District election of 2022. The indictment claims that Braddock threatened to “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” and eliminate the main rival.
The supposed victims’ names were left out of the DOJ indictment.
In 2021 court records, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., one of Braddock’s main rivals and the ultimate winner of the campaign, claimed that Braddock was pursuing her and wanted her dead.
In 2021, a temporary restraining order was granted by a Florida court to Luna and her friend Erin Olszewski, a conservative activist.
Braddock called off his campaign in 2021, not long after the injunction was issued by the judge.
On Saturday, NBC News was unable to get in touch with Braddock for comment. Braddock may or may not have entered a plea.
Requests for comment on Saturday afternoon were not immediately answered by a representative for Luna or a counsel for Olszewski.
In 2021, Braddock notified the Pinellas County judge that he was against the injunction and that he want to “obtain, review and validate” the evidence that had been used against him, claiming he was unsure of its contents.
The DOJ claims that Braddock left the nation after allegedly making the threats and was subsequently discovered to be living in the Philippines. Following his deportation, he appeared in court for the first time on Thursday in Los Angeles, according to a DOJ press release.
According to the DOJ, Braddock faces a potential sentence of five years in prison on each count of interstate transmission of a genuine threat to hurt another person.
The Election Threats Task Force of the Justice Department was established in 2021 to combat threats against election workers, and this case is a part of it. The St. Petersburg Police Department is assisting the FBI’s Tampa field office in its investigation of the matter, according to the DOJ.
On November 5, Luna will run for reelection. Luna was the only candidate to qualify for her seat, therefore the Republican primary scheduled for August was called off.
