By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Pennsylvania man was accused of threatening to kill a state political party operative who had recruited people to monitor the polls for the Nov. 5 U.S. election, according to court documents made public on Monday.
John Courtney Pollard, 62, of Philadelphia, is accused of sending threatening messages to the unidentified party worker, including promising to say “SKIN YOU ALIVE,” according to an indictment filed by federal prosecutors in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Pollard was arrested Monday and charged with interstate transmission of threats. He has not yet entered a plea and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney.
Pennsylvania is one of seven battleground states likely to decide the presidential election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.
Court documents do not name the employee or mention the political party.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. Representatives of Pennsylvania’s Democratic and Republican parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The state party worker posted on a social media platform last month seeking volunteers to “observe at the polls on Election Day” and included a personal cellphone number. Pennsylvania and many other states allow outside observers to monitor voting locations and file certain objections.
Pollard texted the employee on Sept. 6 saying he was interested in polling and then sent a series of threatening messages, according to the complaint.
The case was brought by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Election Threats Task Force, which was created in 2021 after state and local election officials faced a wave of violent threats following Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
According to Justice Department figures, the task force had indicted 18 cases last month.
Reuters has documented at least 300 cases of political violence in the United States since 2021, incidents that have sparked unrest ahead of a closely contested election.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Berkrot)
