A San Diego man arrested Thursday is the latest out-of-state resident accused of threatening Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer.
William Hyde, 52, is accused of leaving a threatening voicemail for Richer in November 2022, after the last statewide election.
Hyde allegedly warned Richer that “we were coming” and that he should hide.
“You want to rig our elections? You want to steal real votes from the American people? Here we come,” he said. [expletive].That's better [expletive] Please hide,” he is said to have said.
The message came after a Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting to certify the county's election results.
This is the third time someone has been charged with making threats against Richer.
A Missouri man, Walter Hoenstra, was indicted in 2022, and a Texas man, Frederick Francis Goltz, pleaded guilty in 2023.
Many other Arizona election officials have also experienced threats related to conspiracy theories that the 2022 and 2020 elections were “stolen.”
If convicted, Hyde could face up to five years in prison.
“Threats against election officials are at the heart of our democracy,” Tara McGrath, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, said in a statement. “Even one incident has a ripple effect. This office will aggressively prosecute any attempt to intimidate, intimidate, or intimidate election officials who perform these important duties.”
The case was part of a U.S. Department of Justice task force investigating threats of violence against election officials, workers, and volunteers.
