Man in Custody After Threatening Election Officials via Instagram

(PatriotPostNews.com) – An Alabama resident is facing charges after he allegedly posted threats on Instagram towards elected officials in Arizona.

Brian Ogstad was arrested on February 28, the same day he appeared in court. He is charged with five counts of communicating interstate threats. If convicted, the man could receive up to five years in prison for each of the five counts.

According to the indictment, Ogstad is suspected of sending threatening messages to the Maricopa County Elections Instagram account. The charges allege that the 59-year-old sent 18 separate messages through the Instagram app’s direct messaging tool on August 2 and 3, 2022. At the time, Arizona was holding primary elections on both the state and federal levels, including the governor’s race.

The messages included many expletives and death threats, claiming that the officials in Arizona were committing election fraud during the state race for governor. The messages did not include evidence to back this claim.

One message sent to the official account featured a picture of a doll of the cowboy Woody, the protagonist of the iconic movie franchise Toy Story, who had an object sticking out of his back. In another, Ogstad warned that the officials “are so dead,” calling them “lying” and “cheating.”

Other messages included threats that the officials “better not” show themselves in Ogstad’s church, business, or “send your kids to my school.” He also allegedly wrote that they are “stupid” if they believe their “lives are safe.”

A February 28 statement issued by the Department of Justice quoted Gary Restaino, a United States attorney for the District of Arizona, who noted the importance of shutting down those who “threaten vigilante justice.”

Ogstad is not the only citizen to be arrested for threatening officials. Following a rise in similar incidents beginning in 2021, the Department of Justice launched the Election Threats Task Force, which has disciplined many individuals for threatening election officials.

In February 2024 alone, there were two similar cases that charged suspects in Indiana and California. Andrew Nickels of Indiana recently pleaded guilty to making threats.