Nebraska man gives DOJ election task force first guilty plea

A Nebraska man pleaded guilty Thursday to threatening an election official, in the first plea to the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force.

Travis Ford, 42, threatened an election official over Instagram, making comments such as, “Your security detail is far too thin and incompetent to protect you. This world is unpredictable these days….anything can happen to anyone.”

“Do you feel safe?” Ford also commented. “You shouldn’t. Do you think Soros will/can protect you?”

George Soros is a philanthropist and donor to democratic causes.

Ford posted similar threatening comments on the Instagram pages of President Biden and another unnamed public figure.

Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed that the DOJ “will not tolerate illegal threats of violence” against election officials.

“Threats of violence against election officials are dangerous for people’s safety and dangerous for our democracy, and we will use every resource at our disposal to disrupt and investigate those threats and hold perpetrators accountable,” Garland said.

Garland announced the election task force in June 2021 to “ensure that all election workers … are able to do their jobs free from threats and intimidation.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said that Thursday’s guilty plea “demonstrates the success of our collaborative efforts to ensure the safety of the workers we entrust to effectuate the democratic process.”

Ford faces up to two years in prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 6, according to an announcement made by U.S. Attorney Steven Russell for the District of Nebraska, DOJ official Kenneth Polite Jr. and FBI official Luis Quesada.

“If you make online threats of violence, do not count on remaining anonymous,” warned U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Cole Finegan.