Texas Man Sentenced for Threatening Officials After Trump Loss

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Facts

  • Chad Christopher Stark of Texas, who posted threatening messages against Georgia election officials following the result of the 2020 presidential election, was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison.1
  • Stark, who prosecutors said posted messages on Craigslist urging Georgia residents to “militia up” and shoot several unnamed judges and officials, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of communicating interstate threats.2
  • Stark’s message, which reportedly offered to pay $10K to anyone who carried out his request, was posted on Jan. 5, 2021 — the day before Congress was set to certify the election results.3
  • Stark was the first case brought by the Justice Department's Election Threats Task Force, which started in 2021 after there was a rise in violent threats against election workers following former Pres. Donald Trump’s highly controversial claims that fraud cost him the 2020 election.2
  • Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that two of the officials threatened were Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.4

Sources: 1MYSA, 2Associated Press, 3Reuters (a) and 4Reuters (b).

Narratives

  • Anti-Trump narrative, as provided by CNBC. It’s ludicrous that election workers are facing these types of threats, and they have just kept increasing since Trump and his allies refused to drop their false claims that 2020 was rigged. The election workers who continue to show up must be protected, and legislation that imposes stiffer punishment against those who threaten violence must be front-of-mind for lawmakers.
  • Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by The Wall Street Journal. Putting aside the fact that Trump wasn't the one who invented election denialism (plenty of liberals did it long before he came along), there are many reasons to distrust the election process. No one should threaten violence, but more must be done about the security of mail-in ballots and enforcing rules around who can vote and when.