Man suspected of leaving threatening voicemail to election official arrested
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A San Diego man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of making a threat to an Arizona election official, federal officials said.
William Hyde, 52, is suspected of leaving a voicemail containing a violent threat on the personal cell phone of an election official with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office in Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 28, 2022, the United States Department of Justices said in a news release. The charge he faces is one count of communicating an interstate threat.
Nicole M. Argentieri, acting assistant attorney general of the justice department’s criminal division, says Hyde left threatening messages on the election official’s personal cell phone the day after county officials certified the 2022 election results.
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“The indictment alleges that the defendant accused the official of cheating the election and told the official to ‘run’ and ‘hide,’” Argentieri said. “The Criminal Division is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting individuals who threaten election officials. We will not tolerate criminal intimidation of those who administer and safeguard our elections.”
An indictment unsealed Thursday revealed the voicemail message Hyde allegedly left on the personal cell phone of the election official.
“Run, [expletive],” Hyde allegedly said in the voicemail. “You wanna cheat our elections? You wanna screw Americans out of true votes? We’re coming, [expletive]. You’d better [expletive] hide.”
Hyde is scheduled to make his court appearance Friday at the federal courthouse in San Diego. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
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