Philadelphia man charged with election threats to 'skin' and kill state party official

A 62-year-old Philadelphia man was indicted Monday on charges he threatened a state party official who was recruiting poll watchers by texting he would “skin you alive" and kill the person, the Justice Department announced.

Because he used Apple's iMessage platform, John Pollard was charged federally with transmitting interstate threats, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The case is part of a federal Election Threats Task Force, which features federal, state and local authorities cooperating to enforce laws against threatening election workers.

Pollard’s alleged victim, an employee of a state political party who lives in western Pennsylvania, wasn’t named in court records. But Pollard allegedly sent threatening text messages to the person on Sept. 6 at about 10 p.m. because the person was recruiting volunteers to serve as poll observers on Election Day.

One of the three texts said he would “kill you if you don’t answer me!” in all caps. Another said the person’s “days are numbered.” And the third peppered with vulgarities said the sender would “find you and skin you alive and use your skin for” toilet paper.

Threats against election workers exploded after the 2020 election, as then-President Donald Trump and his supporters falsely claimed widespread fraud. The claims ? and threats ? continue despite investigations by his fellow Republicans that found no problems significant enough to change the outcome.

Neither Pollard's party affiliation nor the victim's was mentioned in his court records. Pollard was indicted Oct. 16 and the charges were unsealed Monday after his arrest. He has not yet made a formal court appearance and his lawyer was not listed in court records.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Philadelphia man charged for threatening to 'skin' party official: DOJ