Georgia election worker Nicholas Wimbish was charged with sending a bomb threat to election officials and making false statements to FBI. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

Wimbish, 25, of Milledgeville, was arrested after allegedly threatening them the visa of the local electoral officials with explosives, in a letter written to appear to be from a voter with whom he had a verbal altercation the previous day, according to a report by Department of Justice (DOJ).

Authorities say Wimbish worked as a poll worker in Jones County elections Office on October 16, when he allegedly had a heated exchange of words with the voter.

According to the criminal complaint, Wimbish then did online research to learn publicly available information about himself. The next day, he sent a letter to the Jones County Superintendent of Elections, purportedly from a “Jones County voter.”

Newsweek reached out to the Jones County Superintendent of Elections by email Tuesday after business hours for comment.

In the letter, Wimbish allegedly threatened physical and sexual violence against fellow employees before ending with a bomb threat.

Information released by the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs shows that the letter was written to make it appear as if it came from the constituent with whom Wimbish had the verbal altercation. The letter said Wimbish was “giving me hell” and “conspiring votes” and “distracting voters from concentration.”

The letter warned poll workers that they “should look over their shoulder” and “I know where they all live because I found home voting addresses for all of them… Young people will be beaten if they fight me (and) get punishment for treason. firing squad if they fight back’.

The warnings in the letter then became increasingly ominous as the letter writer threatened to “get angry”. rape‘, survey worker and warned them to ‘watch every move they make and look over their shoulder’, before concluding with a bomb threat in a handwritten note written in a childish scribble, saying : “Toy PS boom in place of early voting, cigar. burning, be safe.”

Wimbish was charged with sending a bomb threat, transmitting false information about a bomb threat, sending a threatening letter and making false statements to the FBI, in an announcement made by Senior Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri , the head of Justice. Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary for the Middle District of Georgia.

On what appears to be his X, previously Twitter, profileWimbish describes himself as a “graduate student, open traveler, avid follower of Christ, and loyal friend.”

The FBI’s Atlanta office is investigating the case as part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, which coordinates with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and works closely with election officials and advocacy groups to identify and prosecute those who threaten election workers. .

Newsweek reached the FBI’s Atlanta division by email on Tuesday for comment.

The task force also aims to protect voting rights and ensure that election officials can do their jobs without fear of harassment or violence, thus safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process.

It includes members from several agencies within the Department of Justice, including the Criminal Division, Civil rights Division and the FBI, as well as partners in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It was released in 2021 in a Justice Department statement that said in part:

“In recent months, there has been a significant increase in the threat of violence against Americans administering free and fair elections across our Nation. As the attorney general said two weeks ago: There are many things that are open to debate in America. But the right to vote of all eligible citizens is not one of them.

“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, the right from which all other rights ultimately flow. For this vital right to be effective, election officials must be allowed to do their jobs without undue partisan influence, physical threats, or any kind. other conduct designed to intimidate The Department of Justice has a long history of protecting the right to vote of every American and will continue to do so.”