Man charged with threatening to kill election officials and judges in Colorado and Arizona

A Colorado man was charged for allegedly making threats towards local election officials, federal law enforcement and a Colorado state judge, the Justice Department announced Monday.

Teak Brockbank, 45, was arrested in Cortez, Colo. last Friday over accusations he waged a series of online threats towards officials in Colorado and Arizona starting in 2021, according to federal prosecutors.

The messages were posted by two social media accounts. In one 2022 post, Brockbank allegedly referenced separate election officials in Arizona and Colorado before writing, “there is no other answer but to execute these people,” per the criminal complaint. He also accused them of committing “treason,” prosecutors said.

The names of the election officials were redacted in the complaint.

In a message in October 2021, Brockbank allegedly threatened an unnamed Colorado state judge, writing, “I could pick up my rifle and I could go put a bullet in this Mans head and send him to explain himself to our Creator right now. I would be Justified!!! Not only justified but obligated by those in my family who fought and died for the freedom in this country. . . . What can I do other than kill this man my self?” prosecutors said.

Brockbank then threatened federal law enforcement in a post that mentioned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, prosecutors alleged.

In a July 2022 post, he allegedly wrote it would be “completely justified” to shoot members from these agencies if they were to show up at his house.

Brockbank was charged with transmitting interstate threats, which carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

He was expected to make his initial appearance in a federal courthouse in Durango, Colo. on Monday. A lawyer for Brockbank was not immediately listed on court dockets.

Attorney General Merrick Garland denounced violent threats against public servants, calling them a “danger to our democracy,” in a release.

“The arrest and charges announced today make clear that the Justice Department will see to it that perpetrators answer for their actions,” Garland wrote.

“Public servants must be able to do their jobs without fear,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri added.

Brockbank allegedly renewed the threats in late 2023 in an apparent reaction to the Colorado Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in December disqualifying former President Trump from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection ban.

In texts to his stepfather, Brockbank is accused of stating, “Four judges in Colorado have removed President Trump from the ballot in Colorado. their names have been added to my list…”

The U.S. Supreme Court in March ruled on Trump’s appeal, unanimously deciding Colorado cannot disqualify the former president under the 14th Amendment.

Several reports over the last year have suggested local election workers are increasingly fearful for their safety as the November election approaches.

The Department of Justice’s Election Threats Task Force announced in March it is looking into dozens of threats against election workers. The task force, formed in 2021 to respond to threats related to 2020 election denialism, has already resulted in 20 prosecutions.

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