On June 8, 2021, at the height of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "pandemic," Braddock, a 41-year-old Republican, allegedly started threatening Luna, also a Republican. Braddock allegedly called Luna a "dead squirrel" and "a ****ing bump in the road."
"I really don't want to have to end anybody's life for the good of the people of the United States of America," Braddock allegedly said in the leaked audio.
"That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a ****ing speed bump in the road. She's a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood."
Not long after these episodes of apparent rage, Braddock tried to flee the United States for the Philippines. He has since been charged with a count of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Luna, who recently called the situation a "very serious shooting threat," would go on to win the race against Braddock and was sworn into Congress in January 2023. Luna previously lost that same seat during the 2020 election cycle to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
Early on, Braddock tried to deny that he said any of these things about Luna, insinuating that the recording may have been altered. A judge later agreed with Luna that Braddock was a threat, issuing Luna a restraining order against him.
Braddock eventually dropped out of the race entirely, only to now face a possible prison sentence for what he allegedly did back during COVID.
(Related: Moscow is moving closer to retaliating against the West for outfitting Ukraine with U.S.-made weapons to attack Russia.)
Feds cracking down on election threats, violence in 2024
The move to prosecute Braddock comes at a time when the government is trying to crack down on election-related threats and political violence during the 2024 election cycle.
Luna reportedly received another "very serious shooting threat" just this past month. She has said very little publicly about it since there is a law enforcement investigation currently underway.
"Just hours before this threat to my office, we saw how there was a second assassination attempt on President Trump's life," Luna said in a statement.
Beyond these threats, Luna claims she has been doxed on several occasions. She also called out Whitney Fox, her Democrat challenger, for accusing Luna of being a "threat to democracy," this being a common claim among Democrats about the Republican Party under Donald Trump.
"We cannot comment on the indictment," a spokesperson for Luna's office told the New York Post. "In the past month alone, Congresswoman Luna has faced a growing number of death threats. This alarming trend points to a broader and more disturbing issue of violence in the political arena."
In the upcoming election, Luna is favored to win reelection for Florida's 13th Congressional District.
"The 'threat to democracy' false narrative is as old and tired as the 'Russia, Russia, Russia lie,'" one commenter wrote about these developments.
"The people who push these ridiculous narratives obviously have no idea how the U.S. system of governance works or what it would truly take for a person to become a dictator in this country."
American politics has a very dark underbelly. Learn more at Rigged.news.
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