Florida congressional candidate charged with threatening to kill his primary opponent

The Justice Department released 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 was his primary opponent in the 2022 election for Florida’s 13th Congressional District, according to the DOJ. According to the indictment, Braddock is said to have threatened to “call my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” and make the main opponent disappear.

The DOJ indictment did not name the alleged victims.

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

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

Braddock ended his campaign in 2021 shortly after the judge issued the injunction.

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

A spokeswoman for Luna told NBC News her office couldn’t comment on the case, but said the congresswoman had “faced an increasing number of death threats” over the last month, which the spokeswoman said reflected a “broader and more troubling 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 that he opposed the restraining order and wanted to “obtain, review and validate” the 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 living in the Philippines, according to the Justice Department. He was subsequently deported to the United States and made his first court appearance in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to the DOJ press release.

Braddock is charged with one count of interstate communication of an actual threat to harm 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, which was convened in 2021 to address threats against election workers. The FBI’s Tampa field office is investigating the case with assistance from the St. Petersburg Police Department, the DOJ said.

Luna is up for re-election on November 5th. 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