Trump Supporters Left Death Threats for Election Workers. We Called Back.

After the 2020 presidential election, hundreds of threatening messages, emails, and voicemails were left for elections workers across the country. This is especially true in election hotspots like Georgia’s Fulton County, where officials were harassed for months over the phone and by email. Local law enforcement has not held anyone accountable, and some workers fear continued harassment in future elections.

Another one had a similar message: “Hey Rick, watching this video of you on YouTube. You need to get your act together or people like me really may go after people like you.”

When VICE News asked him why he left these messages, he remained resolute and without remorse. “I think I'm like every American that watched elections get decided the night of, and then I watched Georgia and a few other key swing states turn into a month-long, dragged out, hiding of information,” said Johnson. “When you're a public servant, you've got to be ready to stand up to the scrutiny of people, whether you're a constituent or not.”

Tennessee resident John Johnson didn’t leave that message, though he left others like it. Johnson was convinced by Trump that the election had been stolen in Georgia. He had watched a live feed of Fulton County election workers and spent weeks following the conspiracy. He called Barron with a warning: “We’re watching, Rick.”

Richard Barron, the elections director of Fulton County, received over a hundred such messages in one week. “We're coming after you and every motherfucker that stole this election with our Second Amendment, subpoenas be damned,” a message stated. “You're going to be served lead, you fucking enemy communist cocksucker.”

VICE News called them back. These messages were sent without shame: Of the threatening messages reviewed by VICE News, almost all contained the phone numbers, email addresses, or names of the people who had sent or left them. None regretted leaving threatening messages or expressed remorse that their words had caused election workers to fear for their lives.

Importantly, these calls weren’t anonymous. Instead, they were made by people from across the country who believe the false conspiracy that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump—and that election workers in Fulton County were to blame for massive electoral fraud.

When VICE News called Risner, the Indiana resident said he did not regret making that call, and that he was not making a direct threat towards Barron or his employees.

Risner called Barron on December 31, 2020. “Either you're blind or you’re crooked as fuck,” Risner said over voicemail. “So figure it out buddy cause which side you gonna be on when the shooting starts brother?”

Derrick Risner claimed he got Barron’s number while watching a segment on OANN. “I was watching One American News and they put his phone number on there and they said, ‘Give the man a call,” Risner told VICE News.

In the weeks and months after the 2020 election, as Trump pushed his Big Lie conspiracy, right-wing news outlets like conspiracy-espousing media channel One America News Network and Newsmax followed the former president’s lead. They devoted primetime news reports to conspiracy theories about Trump’s loss. Central to these conspiracies were election officials who had overseen the ballot counting, like Barron.

“I stand what I stand behind what I said,” added Risner. “Ultimately, you know, if you can sit right now in this country today and say that all of that was legal…I don't know.” He cited OANN as a major inspiration for his beliefs: “I watch One American News. It's on in the background as we speak,” he told VICE News. “I was never really a Trump supporter. But ultimately, they've turned me into one.”

Both Johnson and Risner declined requests to be interviewed on camera. Risner specifically cited his concern that an in person interview would jeopardize his personal safety. When Johnson was asked if it was acceptable to call people and threaten them about their jobs, he said, “If that's the way you spin it, then you are a communist piece of garbage and you can put that on the record.”