50949_WKBW_7_Problem_Solvers_658x90.png

Actions

Georgia poll worker arrested for making bomb threat to election workers

The Justice Department says the poll worker mailed a letter to elections officials, pretending to be an anonymous local voter.
1603396847_zyyJCG.jpg
Posted

Federal authorities arrested a poll worker in Georgia Monday after he mailed a bomb threat to the Jones County Elections Superintendent.

The U.S. Justice Department says25-year-old Georgia resident Nicholas Wimbish, who was a Jones County Elections Office poll worker in October, mailed a letter to elections officials, pretending to be an unnamed local voter.

The letter was written to allege that Wimbish was “conspiring votes” and “distracting voters from concentrating.” It threatened poll workers, saying “young men will get beatdown if they fight me” and “will get the treason punishment by firing squad if they fight back.”

The letter included a hand-written note: “PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe.”

Authorities allege Wimbish made the threats a day after he was in a confrontation with a voter at the elections office. The criminal complaint states he searched for publicly available information about himself online before mailing the threatening letter.

RELATED STORY | National Guard members on standby for Election Day in some states

Wimbish is charged with mailing a bomb threat, conveying false information about a bomb threat, mailing a threatening letter, and making false statements to the FBI. The charges are punishable by a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

The FBI is making an investigation into the incident.