Justice Department charges man over alleged Arizona election threat

California resident William Hyde, 52, was scheduled to appear in court on Friday to face charges that he left voicemails threatening an Arizona election official with violence. Authorities arrested him in San Diego on Thursday, according to a statement by the Department of Justice.

What exactly did Hyde say? The DOJ alleges that the man in November 2022 left voicemails for the Arizona official saying, “We’re coming,” and telling them to “run” and “hide.” In the voicemails, the man accused the official of trying to “cheat our elections” and “screw Americans out of our true votes,” according to the DOJ’s statement. All defendants are presumed innocent until declared guilty in a court of law.

How were these charges brought to court? The DOJ’s Election Threats Task Force conducted the investigation. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the task force's creation in June 2021, saying it came in response to increased threats against election workers.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Carolina Lumetta’s report about the 2022 elections and counties nationwide asking for more election workers to man their polls.