By In a case underscoring the growing concerns over threats to election integrity, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested a Colorado man for allegedly making violent threats against election officials, a judge, and federal law enforcement agents on far-right social media platforms. The arrest comes as the Department of Justice (DOJ) intensifies its efforts to combat intimidation targeting public servants involved in the electoral process.
Teak Brockbank, a 45-year-old resident of Cortez, Colorado, was taken into custody on Friday and charged with transmitting interstate threats. He is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Monday, facing serious allegations that highlight the increasingly volatile political climate surrounding U.S. elections.
According to a redacted affidavit from an FBI special agent, investigators had been monitoring threats made on two right-wing social media websites — Rumble and Gab. They determined that Brockbank, operating under the username “Teakty4u,” had made numerous threatening posts against various officials. The names of Brockbank’s targets remain sealed at the government’s request, adding a layer of intrigue to the case.
Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, emphasized the gravity of the situation in a statement: “As alleged, Teak Brockbank threatened the lives of multiple public servants on social media. Among other threats, he allegedly claimed that it was ‘time’ to put two state election officials to death and that he was obligated to ‘put a bullet’ in the head of a Colorado state judge.” Argentieri reaffirmed the DOJ’s commitment to aggressively investigating and prosecuting those who target public officials with violent threats.
The case against Brockbank reveals a disturbing pattern of online behavior. In one Rumble post from July 2022, he allegedly wrote about his belief that people in Colorado and Arizona needed to be executed, stating, “The people have to take matters into their own hands.”
A Gab post from the same month contained even more explicit language: “We are gonna have to take care of these people ourselves. Our law-enforcement are incompetent our judges are incompetent George Soros paid for funded puppets are running our state. It’s time for the American people to take matters into their own hands start eliminating those that we know are guilty!! There is no other way! Mark my words. We have to go to war with these people right now!!”
Further investigation revealed that Brockbank had a history of illegally possessing firearms, despite being banned from owning them due to a prior conviction for attempted theft by receipt of stolen property. The FBI affidavit notes that he was blocked from purchasing a gun in August 2023 after failing a background check, with his appeal being denied the following month.
Of particular concern to authorities was Brockbank’s “continued interest in violence toward public officials as well as his ongoing and recent illegal possession of firearms.” A message he allegedly sent to his stepfather in December 2023 referenced the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s ballot: “Four judges in Colorado have removed President Trump from the ballot in Colorado. their names have been added to my list… their names have been moved to the front of my list.” The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that states could not remove Trump’s name from the ballot.
The FBI affidavit also references slogans associated with the fringe QAnon movement, suggesting possible connections to broader conspiracy theories that have gained traction in certain online communities.
