TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — A Texas man has been sentenced to prison for posting online threats against several Georgia officials after the 2020 election.
Chad Christopher Stark, 55 of Leander, Texas, was arrested by the FBI in January 2022 and charged with communicating interstate threats.
According to court documents, Stark posted a message on Craigslist in January 2021 offering $10,000 for someone to kill Georgia officials, whose names were removed from the documents.
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“It’s our duty as American Patriots to put an end to the lives of these traitors and take back our country by force,” the post read in part. “Militia up Georgia, it’s time to spill blood.”
The post goes on to say that Stark planned to “make examples of traitors to our country.”
U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said that those threatened included statewide elected officials and a volunteer county election worker.
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“Those threats were equally harmful, and his conduct put our democracy in jeopardy,” Buchanan explained.
“Threats of violence against those who administer our elections are dangerous for people’s personal safety, and they are dangerous for our democracy,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Stark was sentenced to two years behind bars.
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