A Texas man, Frederick Francis Goltz, was sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for suggesting a “mass shooting of poll workers” and for threatening two Maricopa County officials and their families.
Goltz, age 52, pleaded guilty in April to interstate threatening communications. His prison sentence is to be followed by three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Mr. Goltz threatened several Arizonans on social media platforms Patriots.win and Gab.com – including Tom Liddy, a lawyer who works in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and son of disgraced Watergate figure, G. Gordon Liddy, and Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County Recorder.
According to the Department of Justice, Goltz admitted that on Nov. 21, 2022, he posted Liddy’s name, purported home address, and purported telephone number on social media along with the sardonic comment, “It would be a shame if someone got to [sic] this children. There are some crazies out there. This kind of info shouldn’t be readily available on the internet.” On the same date, in response to another post referring to other Maricopa County officials, Mr. Goltz said, “Someone needs to get these people AND their children. The children are the most important message to send.”
Just two days later, according to court records, Mr. Goltz responded to a post about Richer with the comment, “He’s got a WIFE that is a lawyer, too. We need to find out her name and where she works. I don’t think he has kids, but I’m not 100% on that.” When another user commented that kids should be “off limits,” Mr. Goltz responded by saying, “NOTHING is off limits. It’s people like you that are supposedly with us, who don’t have the stomach to do what it takes to get our country back.”
An FBI investigation into Mr. Goltz’s other social media activity revealed a long history of threatening statements against a variety of targets, including government officials, law enforcement officers, and others:
For example, according to court records, on Nov. 13, 2022, Mr. Goltz advocated for “a mass shooting of poll workers and election officials” in precincts he believed had “suspect” results.
A few weeks later, he said he was “willing to take lives” in order to protect against what he called a “tyrannical government.”
According to court records, Mr. Goltz repeatedly emphasized that “children are not off limits,” and said that going after children is important because “it sends a message… people will pay the price for ‘sins of the father.’ Dead children burn into the memories of people.” He also discussed the potential use of concealed firearms.