PHOENIX - Officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Colorado say a man there has been arrested and accused of making online threats toward election officials in Arizona and elsewhere.
Per the statement, 45-year-old Teak Brockbank was arrested on Aug. 23 in Cortez, a southwestern Colorado community located about 40 miles away from Four Corners.
"We allege that the defendant made detailed death threats against election officials, judges, and law enforcement officers," said Attorney General Merrick Garland. "Violent threats against public servants are a danger to our democracy, and the arrest and charges announced today make clear that the Justice Department will see to it that perpetrators answer for their actions."
Investigators allege that from September 2021 to August 2022, Brockbank "used two social media accounts to post messages threatening Colorado and Arizona election officials." The identities of those threatened were not released.
"For example, on Aug. 4, 2022, Brockbank allegedly posted a message referring to separate election officials in Arizona and Colorado and then stated: ‘Once those people start getting put to death then the rest will melt like snowflakes and turn on each other. . . . This is the only way. So those of us that have the stomach for what has to be done should prepare our minds for what we all [a]re going to do!!!!!! It is time,’" read a portion of the statement.
Officials also allege that Brockbank threatened a Colorado state judge in October 2021.
"Brockbank is charged with transmitting interstate threats. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison," the statement reads.