Guilty: Man admits threatening to execute official who tried to boot Trump from ballot

A Florida man charged with threatening local election officials faces another charge this week for threats made against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

U.S. officials in Florida charged Richard Glenn Kantwill four times with making interstate threats against election officials, with the latest charge stemming from threats he made against Griswold.

Kantwill referred to Griswold as his “number 1 target” the day after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Colorado case that sought to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the ballot under a Civil War-era insurrection clause. The court ruled Trump’s name must appear on the state’s ballots as states do not have the authority to enforce the clause. Trump is the 2024 Republican presidential candidate.

The secretary of state’s office said the threats from Kantwill used “racist, misogynistic, sexist and vulgar slurs.” Griswold received more than 1,000 violent or death threats since the case, in which she was not a plaintiff, was filed in September 2023.

“Threats of political violence towards election officials are unacceptable and must stop,” Griswold said in a statement. “I refuse to be intimidated and will continue to make sure every eligible Republican, Democrat, and Unaffiliated voter can make their voices heard in our elections. I appreciate law enforcement’s efforts on these cases.”

The U.S. District Court, District of Colorado on Wednesday accepted a guilty plea from Teak Brockbank, a Cortez man who was also charged in August with making interstate threats against election officials, including Griswold. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2025.

Brockbank shared social media posts in 2022 that said he would seek to execute Griswold and others, referring to how Griswold addressed former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ election equipment security breach. A judge recently sentenced Peters, who was convicted of felony crimes in the case, to nine years of incarceration. Griswold’s office investigated Peters and took legal actions to block her from overseeing elections.