Arizona candidate David Redkey arrested for allegedly threatening judge, attorney
Candidate for Arizona's 3rd Congressional District accused of threats
David Redkey was arrested after reportedly admitting to sending direct email threats targeting a judge and attorney, and by extension, their children, officials said.
PHOENIX - An Arizona candidate for Congress has been arrested for allegedly threatening a judge and attorney.
What we know:
David Redkey, a green party candidate running for Arizona's 3rd Congressional District, is accused of threatening a "Superior Court judge and an attorney's office," according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
"We have some victims being threatened. One of the victims a judge, another an attorney and, by extension, their children. And frankly, Your Honor, by extension, those in public service," a prosecutor said. "We have the defendant making direct threats to the victims— sending emails, threatening emails, talking about guns. A gun which was never recovered Your Honor. That's a great concern for the state."
The Arrest:
On Sept. 19, detectives questioned Redkey about the threats, in which he admitted to. He is now facing charges of computer tampering, threatening or intimidating, and using electronic communication to intimidate, threaten or harass.
A judge set Redkey's bond at $150,000.
Big picture view:
Arizona's 3rd Congressional District includes most of Phoenix, and a small part of Glendale. According to the Arizona Green Party's website, Redkey's candidacy is listed as "ACTIVELY OPPOSED," under the Endorsement Rating column.
We have reached out to officials with the Arizona Green Party for a statement on the matter, which reads:
"To our knowledge, Mr. Redkey has a history of abusive and belligerent behavior. As we understand it, he has been expelled from the Arizona Democratic Party as well as the Democratic Socialists of America's Phoenix chapter due to abusive behavior. Before the primary, he registered Green and participated in our endorsements process. He was originally designated "Not Endorsed," then began to engage in abusive and belligerent behavior with members of our state committee. As a result of this behavior, we had a meeting to change his endorsement status to "actively opposed." Unfortunately, news of Mr. Redkey's arrest comes as no surprise given his track record of behavior. We encourage Arizonans in Congressional District 3 not to vote for him."
In another e-mail, an Arizona Green Party official said that Redkey was able to win the primary because he had no opponent, and the party is unable to sue candidates and have them removed from the ballot as a result of a court case.
Dig deeper:
On Jan. 5, Redkey joined FOX 10 Talks, breaking down his background as a school teacher, and experience witnessing systemic issues.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, David Redkey's court appearance, and the Arizona Green Party website.