The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that William Robert Braddock III, a former primary opponent of Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), was charged with threatening to kill a rival opponent during the 2022 election. Braddock, 41, allegedly threatened to call a “Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” to make the opponent “disappear,” according to court documents.
The indictment released by the DOJ did not name the alleged victims or specify whether Braddock threatened Luna. Luna, who was publicly endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary in 2022 and secured the congressional seat in the Midterm election that year. She is currently seeking reelection in the Florida district.
Braddock, a former Marine, was extradited back to the United States from the Philippines on a charge of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person. He made his initial court appearance on Sept. 26 in a Los Angeles federal court. The DOJ stated that Braddock left the United States for the Philippines after making the alleged threat.
If convicted, Braddock faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. In September 2021, Luna testified that Braddock made repeated violent threats against her, claiming involvement of a Russian-Ukrainian hit squad.
Braddock denied any wrongdoing and dropped out of the race in July 2021. The FBI’s Tampa field office is investigating the matter with support from the St. Petersburg Police Department. The case was brought in connection with the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, established in 2021 to address violent threats against election workers.
The Epoch Times contacted Luna’s office for comment, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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