Florida congressional candidate charged with threatening to kill primary opponent

The Justice Department revealed an indictment Friday charging a Florida man with threatening to kill his political opponent in 2021.

William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg, Florida, was charged with threatening two people, one of whom the DOJ said was his primary opponent in the 2022 election for Florida’s 13th Congressional District. Braddock allegedly threatened to “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” and make the primary opponent disappear, according to the indictment.

The DOJ indictment did not name the alleged victims.

One of Braddock’s primary opponents and the race’s eventual winner, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., contended in 2021 court documents that Braddock was stalking her and wanted her dead.

A Florida court in 2021 granted Luna and a conservative activist and friend of hers, Erin Olszewski, a temporary restraining order.

Braddock terminated his campaign in 2021 shortly after the judge granted the injunction.

NBC News could not immediately reach Braddock for comment on Saturday. It is unclear whether Braddock has entered a plea.

A spokesperson for Luna told NBC News her office could not comment on the case but said the congresswoman has “faced a growing number of death threats” in the last month, which the spokesperson said pointed to a “broader and more disturbing issue of violence in the political arena.”

An attorney for Olszewski did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday afternoon.

Braddock told the Pinellas County judge in 2021 he opposed the injunction and wanted to “obtain, review and validate” evidence presented against him, saying he didn’t “know what they have.”

After allegedly making the threats, Braddock fled the country and was later found to be residing in the Philippines, according to the DOJ. He was then deported to the U.S. and made his first court appearance Thursday in Los Angeles, per the DOJ news release.

Braddock is charged with one count of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person, for which he could face a maximum of five years in prison if convicted, the DOJ said.

The case is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, convened in 2021 to address threats targeting election workers. The FBI’s Tampa field office is investigating the case with support from the St. Petersburg Police Department, the DOJ said.

Luna is up for re-election on Nov. 5. The Republican primary for her seat in August was canceled after Luna was the only candidate to qualify.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com