Iowa man detained after threatening to hang election official, authorities say

The Department of Justice stated that an Iowa man was arrested on Thursday after leaving threatening voicemails to an Arizona election official in which he threatened to “hang” them during the 2020 election.

Mark A. Rissi, 64, sent voicemails in 2021 to an unspecified Maricopa County Board of Supervisors election official in Arizona denouncing the results of the 2020 election and threatening to hang the official, according to a DOJ statement.

The DOJ claims that on September 27, 2021, Rissi left a voicemail in which he branded the official a “dumb liar” and threatened to “lynch” him.

“We intend to hang you. You are going to be hung “The voicemail stated, according to the Department of Justice.

According to the DOJ, Rissi left another voicemail on December 8, 2021, informing the Office of the Arizona Attorney General that he and his family were victims of the 2020 election.

“I have been the victim of a crime. My family has been affected by a crime. My extended family has been victimized by a criminal act. This offense involved the stealing of the 2020 election. The illegal election across the whole state of Arizona, “the voicemail stated, per the DOJ.

The voicemail then warned the official to “perform your job” or “you will hang.”

“We will ensure it. Torches and pickaxes. That is the future, “voicemail stated: “Do your job.”

Rissi is charged with two counts of sending a threatening interstate communication and one count of making a threatening telephone call, according to a DOJ release.

The DOJ’s Election Threats Task Force was established in 2021 to investigate violent threats against election workers and officials.

Camila DeChalus of Insider previously reported that following the 2020 election results, former President Donald Trump claimed electoral fraud happened in Maricopa County, where Biden had won, and demanded a “audit.”

As previously reported by Insider’s Erin Snodgrass, when organizers of the troubled GOP-led election audit in Maricopa County, Arizona, finally released results from the months-long recount in September, the findings confirmed that President Biden defeated Trump fairly in the largest county of the once-solidly red state.

According to a subsequent poll, despite the extra evidence of Biden’s victory, the controversial “audit” actually contributed to an increase in uncertainty surrounding the historic presidential election.

A rise in political violence is anticipated ahead of the next midterm elections, and experts warn that election workers could be at risk.

Adrian Fontes, the former recorder of Maricopa County, told Insider earlier this year that there are legitimate concerns that poll workers may be physically assaulted or killed before the general elections of 2022.

“I’m concerned that holding elections in America would cost human lives,” he told Camila DeChalus of Insider. “In the United States, elections administration is the one piece of crucial infrastructure that cannot be omitted. We cannot underfund or understaff the project. And we must ensure that it is safeguarded.”