Philadelphia man charged with threatening to kill, ‘skin alive’ political party worker recruiting poll watchers

John Pollard, 62, was charged with one count of transmitting interstate threats and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted.

The indictment stated that on September 5, 2024, the victim, whose political affiliation was not released, posted to social media recruiting volunteers to "help observe at the polls on Election Day" and that the victim would be "doing required trainings in the next few weeks" since a "certificate is needed to assist inside the polls." Included in the post, which was later shared to another social media platform, was the victim’s full name and personal cellphone number for those who were interested in serving.

Between 10:01 pm and 10:11 pm on September 6, Pollard allegedly sent four text messages to the victim’s cell phone: "Hey [redacted]. I’m interested in being a poll watcher," sent at 10:01 pm; "I will KILL YOU IF YOU DON’T ANSWER ME!," sent at 10:10:18 pm; "Your days are numbered, B*TCH!," sent at 10:10:54 pm; and "GONNA F*CKING FIND YOU AND SKIN YOU ALIVE AND USE YOUR SKIN FOR F*CKING TOILET PAPER, YOU F*CKING KKK*NT!," sent at 10:11 pm.

The FBI Pittsburg Field Office is investigating the case, and the case against Pollard is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, which was launched in June 2021.

The indictment stated that the defendant, "with the intent to communicate a true threat of violence, with knowledge that the communication would be viewed as a true threat of violence, and with recklessness as to whether the communication would be viewed as a true threat of violence, knowingly transmitted in interstate commerce through Apple’s iMessage platform a communication containing a true threat to injure the person of another; that is, Pollard threatened to kill and skin alive Victim 1."