A former candidate for Florida Congressional seat has been indicted for threatening to kill his 2022 Republican primary opponent, Anna Paulina Luna, who was the eventual winner of the seat.
William Robert Braddock III, 41, and the candidate identified as “Victim 1” in the indictment were among several candidates running to replace then Rep. Charlie Crist when he stepped down for an unsuccessful run for Florida’s governor.
On June 8, 2021, “Braddock made several threats to injure or kill” Victim 1 and a second victim, identified as a private citizen and acquaintance of Victim 1, according to the US Department of Justice. Braddock allegedly threatened to “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” to make Luna disappear.
After making the threats, Braddock fled to the Philippines, where he was later located. The Philippines deported him back to the United States, and he made his first court appearance in Los Angeles on Thursday on a charge of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person. He faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted.
According to NBC News, Luna said in court documents filed in 2021 that Braddock was stalking her and wanted her dead. A court granted her and Erin Olszewski, an activist and friend of Luna’s, a temporary restraining order. Braddock ended his campaign and left the country shortly after the restraining order was issued.
The Philippines Bureau of Immigration said that Braddock was found in June and arrested as an “undocumented alien.”
Luna is running for reelection this year. Her primary was canceled last month when she was the only candidate who qualified.
