A former congressional candidate was charged by the Justice Department over allegations that he threatened to hire a “Russian-Ukrainian” hit squad to murder his political opponent Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.).
The DOJ announced the unsealed indictment Friday, charging 41-year-old William Braddock of St. Petersburg, Florida, with one count of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person.
Braddock is accused of making “several threats to injure” two victims in a phone call on June 8, 2021 — including one where he threatened to “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” to murder his political rival.
Though prosecutors did not outright name the victims in the unsealed indictment, at the time Braddock was running against fellow Republican Luna in the 2022 Florida primary and he was allegedly caught on audio calling the lawmaker a “dead squirrel” and “a f—ing speed bump in the road.”
“I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America,” he was heard saying in the audio, which was reported by Politico.
“That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a f—ing speed bump in the road. She’s a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”
Luna in 2021 had claimed in court documents that Braddock “[was] stalking her and [wanted] her dead.”
She had filed a petition for a permanent restraining order against Braddock, to which the judge granted a temporary one for her and a friend of hers following the allegations.
Braddock eventually dropped out of the race and later fled the US to the Philippines, where he was eventually extradited.
He’s now facing up to five years in prison.
Luna would go on to win the 2022 primary and the general election in Florida’s 13th Congressional District.
This comes a little over a week after Luna, now running for re-election to a second term in Congress, claimed she had also been doxxed and attacked by leftists thanks to inflammatory rhetoric from her Democrat opponent Whitney Fox.
“In an attempt to gain any form of attention, my ‘opponent,’ tried to label me as a threat to democracy. She then allowed her supporters on her campaign social media to publicly dox, coordinate, and solicit individuals to send threatening packages to my home address. The comment below is just one of many. Last night, the police department as well as the FBI were notified. There is now an open investigation with LEO. This info is all FOIAble,” she wrote on X.
When you label people a threat to democracy and attempt to dehumanize/lie about them, violence occurs.
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) September 14, 2024
I am a new mom. I have a baby. I am a veteran. I am the first woman to be elected to hold FL-13 in Congress and the first Mexican American elected to Congress from Florida.… pic.twitter.com/JvB20p3Zc9
“I am, unfortunately, one of the top targeted members of Congress for violence. I have had threats made, things sent to my office, etc. Violence in politics is never acceptable and should never be condoned. Female members also happen to be the most targeted for violence and harassment,” she added.