Utah lieutenant governor’s office is latest target of threats against election workers

SALT LAKE CITY — Election workers in Utah are the latest target in a string of threats against election officials across the country. 

According to the lieutenant governor’s office, the FBI found a suspicious envelope addressed to the office on Friday in Reno, Nevada. The office said the letter had “white powder” and was signed by the “United States Traitor Elimination Army.”

“This incident is the latest tactic in a nationwide trend of threats and intimidation toward election officials. But we will not be intimidated,” Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said in a press release. “I am grateful for the swift action of postal workers and law enforcement and the perseverance of election workers who show up and do their jobs every day despite all the rhetoric and risk.”

The office said Utah was one of at least 20 states whose election offices were sent suspicious packages that federal authorities are investigating.

“The lieutenant governor and state law enforcement officials will continue to monitor the situation and take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of election workers and maintain an orderly election,” the office stated.

We will not be intimidated. pic.twitter.com/azi57ySePF

— Lt. Gov. Deidre M. Henderson (@LGHendersonUtah) September 20, 2024

In a press conference, Henderson called on people’s “better angels” to guide them from making this kind of threats.

“To see elections and election workers, election officials become the target of harassment and intimidation, and threats is incredibly disturbing,” Henderson said at the press conference.

However, the letter isn’t the only threat Henderson’s office recently received. KSL TV received a phone call of a caller speaking to a lieutenant governor’s office employee, making alleged threats against election workers.

“So are you just going to continue with this criminal fraud and capital high treason?” the caller said. “Because we will absolutely see each and every one of you hanged!”

The caller said that they could bring a large group of people to a Utah county with a small population and become residents to “vote our own sheriff in, have him deputize the rest of us, issue warrants, arrest you, try you, convict you, and execute you!”

Retired FBI special agent Frank Montoya said investigators in the letter investigation will likely look for DNA and fingerprints while agents develop a profile.

“The more times that these letters get sent out, the bigger chance there is that somebody makes a mistake,” Montoya said.

The Utah Democratic Party Chair, Diane Lewis, released a statement in response to this investigation, also condemning the threats of violence against the state’s election workers.

“The professionals who handle our votes are integral to the democratic process, and threats made against election workers undermine the foundations of our democracy. I am grateful that those at the Lieutenant Governor’s Office are safe, and that United States Postal Workers and the FBI were able to address the situation,” Lewis said.

Lewis also criticized former President Donald Trump for pushing “election-denying conspiracy theories” and stoking the “culture of political intimidation.”