Man threatens Colorado election official, cites

A man from Colorado has recently been arrested by the local police department after he allegedly threatened the top elected official in the state, Secretary of State Jena Griswold. On Wednesday night, July 6, the accused was locked in a Denver-based jail as he waited for the beginning of his trial.

Threat Call

As reported via Reuters, on the morning of June 30, a mystery caller dialed the number of the office of Secretary of State Jena Griswold, located at 1700 Broadway, Suite 550, Denver. The said caller reportedly told the staff of Griswold, "The angel of death is coming for her [Griswold] in the name of Jesus Christ."

Although that was the only message that was received by the office, Griswold's office pursued the investigation against the threat and reported it to the police. On Wednesday, the man who was identified as 52-year-old Kirk Wertz was arrested by the police.

As of now, there were still no released details about the suspect, but the report said that Wertz has no lawyer listed on his court documents.

‘Destabilize Democracy’

In the same report, State of Secretary Griswold said that there is a "wave of violent threats directed at election officials" in the county. She added that this problem is "extremely concerning."

Still, Griswold told the report that the threats they received from unknown people were just being used to intimidate election officials like her. Thus, she believed that this was their way to 'destabilize democracy' in the country.

Carolyn Tyler, the current communications director for the Denver District Attorney's Office, said in an interview that she cannot yet provide details about the possible punishments for Wertz's alleged crime.

But, the report insisted that the accused would be facing a felony charge due to the incident.

'Retaliation Against an Elected Official'

Lucky for Griswold, the law' Retaliation Against an Elected Official' or SB21-064 was already enacted in Colorado when the supposed threat happened.

The bill was passed in 2021 that reportedly protects elected officials and their families from threats and possible harm due to retaliation.

The said crime is a class 6 felony, according to the Colorado General Assembly website. The principal sponsors of the bill were Sen. John Cooke, Sen. Leroy Garcia, and Rep. Kyle Mullica.

Increasing Threats Against Elected Officials

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., of Illinois, has recently expressed the same sentiments against threats coming at him.

In the report of MSNBC, the congressman shared how he was no longer new in receiving threats from time to time, with some saying he was a "backstabbing son of a b—--" and people accusing him of "going to swing for f---ing treason, you communist f---."

As reported, the threats that were being delivered against Representative Kinzinger were said to be involved with his persistent criticisms of former Pres. Donald Trump.

Politico also released a report about the survey of the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal-leaning think tank and advocacy group. It was reported that 8 out of 10 election officials experienced being threatened due to the line of work.