A Phoenix man who threatened to poison Maricopa County officials in connection with the 2022 election has been sentenced to three years of probation, according to the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
Ryan Stuart Hadland, 45, was charged with misdemeanor battery in June. According to the indictment, prosecutors said he threatened to physically harm Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates in an email sent on Nov. 12, 2022, four days after the midterm elections.
Gates, who represents a politically purple region from north-central Phoenix to Anthem and New River, announced last year that he would not seek re-election in 2024.
Gates and other members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors faced false claims of election fraud after the 2020 and 2022 elections. Gates has publicly stated that he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder due to election-related harassment.
“As a society, we should not normalize or tolerate threats of violence against each other,” Gates said Monday, thanking prosecutors and law enforcement for investigating threats against election officials.
Hadland is one of several people charged by state and federal authorities with threatening Maricopa County leaders after the 2022 election. Pima County Superior Court Judge Scott McDonald also ordered Hadland to receive mental health services and barred him from contacting Gates or his family.
The case was assigned to Pima County Superior Court Judge Scott McDonald in June 2023.
Attorney General Chris Mays said he would continue to prosecute “those who seek to undermine our democracy through intimidation and violence.”
“Threats of violence against public officials are not just criminal acts, they are a direct attack on the principles of our nation's democracy,” Mays said. said in a statement on Monday..
Hadland threatens to poison Gates, alludes to election conspiracy
Mr. Hadland's emails to Mr. Gates included multiple references to election conspiracies.
He accused Gates of being part of the “corrupt Democratic Party,” who “rigged” the voting system and “betrayed” the country.
“It is clear that you prevented my vote from being counted by offsetting it with multiple fraudulent Democratic votes that were counted instead,” Hadland wrote.
Mr. Gates is a Republican. In Maricopa County, he said, there were issues with Election Day printers during the November 2022 election, but an independent investigation found no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing. An independent investigation found that some of the county's older printers were having trouble printing ballots dark enough for on-site tabulators to read them, due to the length and thickness of the interim ballots.
Hadland threatened to poison Gates. He said poisons are “certainly lethal” and can be “strategically placed in every aspect of daily life.”
“I promise you, you are about to be poisoned multiple times to ensure your death or corpse,” he wrote.
Sasha Hapka covers county government and election administration for the Arizona Republic.Do you have tips to share about her election, voting, or intimidation of government officials? Contact her sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter). @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or in the thread: @sashahupkasnaps.
Intimidation and election conspiracy:Maricopa County supervisors will not seek re-election.
