A Republican who ran against Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has been charged with threatening to assassinate her with a Russian-Ukrainian hit squad.
William Braddock, who ran against Luna in the primary election for Florida’s 13th Congressional District, was arrested in the Philippines after fleeing the country in a bid to evade justice.
The Department of Justice said in a press release:
According to the indictment, William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg, and Victim 1 were candidates in the primary election to represent the 13th Congressional District of Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives. Victim 2 was a private citizen and acquaintance of Victim 1. On June 8, 2021, Braddock made several threats to injure and kill Victim 1 and Victim 2 during a telephone call with Victim 2. Specifically, Braddock threatened, in part, to “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” and make Victim 1 disappear.
After making the threats, Braddock left the United States and was later found to be residing in the Philippines. Braddock was recently deported from the Philippines to the United States and made his first court appearance yesterday in Los Angeles.
Braddock is charged with one count of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person. If convicted, Braddock faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
According to a recording obtained by Politico, Braddock said that although he did not want to kill Luna, he would do so if it were in the best interests of America.
“I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America. That will break my heart,” he reportedly said. “But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a fucking speed bump in the road. She’s a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”
Luna eventually triumphed in her primary race and was elected to Congress November 2022. Her victory was one of several crucial flips that ultimately gave the Republican Party control of the House of Representatives and she has since staked out a position as one of the most reliably conservative voices in Congress.
