KSJD Local Newscast - October 24, 2024

A Cortez man facing federal charges for allegedly making online threats against public officials has pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting interstate threats. Forty-five-year-old Teak Ty Brockbank entered the plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver. According to affidavits in the case and testimony at a hearing in Durango on September 3, Brockbank made numerous social-media posts from 2021 through this year calling for the deaths of Colorado’s and Arizona’s secretaries of state, a Montezuma County judge, and law officers. In one post he allegedly said an election official should “Hang by the neck till she is Dead Dead Dead.” In another he said he would shoot without warning any ATF, FBI or CIA agents that came to his door. The posts were on the alternative social-media sites Gab and Rumble, which do not have servers in Colorado, meaning their operations are interstate. Sentencing has been set for February 3. Brockbank could receive up to five years in prison. His was the 16^th conviction secured by the Department of Justice’s Election Threats Task Force since it was formed in 2021. In a statement, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said, “Threats of political violence towards election officials are unacceptable and must stop. I refuse to be intimidated and will continue to make sure every eligible Republican, Democrat, and Unaffiliated voter can make their voices heard in our elections.” She has reportedly received more than 1,000 threats since September of 2023. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, “As we approach Election Day, the Justice Department’s warning remains clear: anyone who illegally threatens an election worker, official, or volunteer will face the consequences.”