A Colorado man is facing federal charges of making death threats to election officials, a judge and law enforcement agents in 2021 and 2022. The case comes amid mounting concerns over intimidation of election workers ahead of November’s presidential election.

Federal authorities on Monday announced the arrest of Teak Brockbank, 45, of Cortez, Colo., and charged him with one count of transmitting interstate threats, which is punishable by up to five years in prison if he is convicted.

Brockbank allegedly used Gab and Rumble, conservative-leaning social media sites, to post online threats against election officials in Colorado and Arizona ahead of the mid-term elections. He is also accused of threatening a Colorado state judge and federal agents who were investigating his case, the Justice Department said in a news release.

Among those whom Brockbank allegedly threatened by name was Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, according to a person with knowledge of the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing legal matter.

In one post from Sept. 22, 2021, Brockbank is alleged to have threatened an official in Colorado, according to a redacted affidavit from an FBI agent who investigated the case.

“I live in Communist Colorado and this Crazed liberal and many others in Communist Colorado needs to- No has to Hang she has to Hang by the neck till she is Dead Dead Dead,” an account allegedly belonging to Brockbank posted.

In another post from Aug. 4, 2022, the same account criticized election officials. “Once those people start getting put to death then the rest will melt like snowflakes and turn on each other …,” Brockbank allegedly wrote. “This is the only way. So those of us that have the stomach for what has to be done should prepare our minds for what we all [a]re going to do!!!!!! It is time.”

He also denounced George Soros, a Democratic megadonor, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, saying they were funding efforts to improperly influence elections.

In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland called violent threats against public servants “a danger to our democracy.” The charges against Brockbank, he said, “make clear that the Justice Department will see to it that perpetrators answer for their actions.”

Brockbank could not be reached for comment.

The indictment was filed in U.S. District Court in Durango, Colo., and the case is being handled by the Justice Department’s Washington-based Election Threats Task Force and the Colorado U.S. attorney’s office. Garland established the task force shortly after taking office, citing a surge in threats against election officials during the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath, when supporters of President Donald Trump staged an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The case against Brockbank is the 18th filed by the task force. Twelve cases have ended in convictions, with the defendants receiving sentences ranging from 30 days to 3½ years in federal prison. There has been one acquittal. Five cases are pending.

Seven of the cases, including Brockbank’s, involve threats to officials in Arizona.

Brockbank appears to be a supporter of Trump, who is again the Republican nominee for the White House. According to the FBI affidavit, the defendant allegedly texted his stepfather on Dec. 20, 2023, after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump could be removed from the presidential primary ballot for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Four judges in Colorado have removed President Trump from the ballot in Colorado. their names have been added to my list … their names have been moved to the front of my list,” Brockbank wrote, according to the affidavit.

The U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year.

The FBI agent also alleged that Brockbank illegally possessed firearms despite a felony conviction for attempted theft in Utah in 2002.

In one text message in 2023, he allegedly acknowledged his felony conviction and, in subsequent messages, indicated he still owned guns, according to the FBI affidavit.

“[N]ow I do not go anywhere without a firearm,” Brockbank allegedly wrote.

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez contributed to this report.