An election worker scans mail-in ballots in Las Vegas in 2020. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
A Nevada man has been arrested for allegedly making "multiple" threatening phone calls to a state election worker the day after the U.S. Capitol riot, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Driving the news: Gjergi Juncaj, 50, of Las Vegas, appeared in federal court Thursday after being arrested by the FBI a day earlier and charged with four federal counts of making threatening telephone calls, per a Justice Department statement.
- Among the threatening and offensive comments Juncaj allegedly made to the worker in the Nevada Secretary of State's Office in Jan. 7, 2021, were "I hope you all go to jail for treason" and "You are all going to [expletive] die," according to prosecutors.
The big picture: His arrest is part of the Justice Department's Election Threats Task Force, launched last June 2021 in response to a surge in threats against poll workers following the 2020 presidential election.
- A Texas man was arrested last week as part of the task force's investigations for allegedly posting a message to Craigslist that stated "Georgia Patriots" should kill government officials.