Dentist charged with threatening election official

A dentist in Florida, already indicted for reportedly threatening three people over their political commentary, has been charged for allegedly sending a threat to an election official, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Dr. Richard Kantwill, 61, of Tampa, FL, was charged on October 21 with four counts of interstate transmission of a threat. If he is convicted, Kantwill faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count, according to a press release dated October 23 from the DOJ Office of Public Affairs.

These charges are in addition to others filed in June in which Kantwill is accused of sending more than 100 threats of death and injury, including racially charged messages, to three people in 2019 and 2020.

"These defendants made serious threats of violence against members of the election community," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of DOJ's criminal division, said in the press release. "Threats like these strike at the very heart of our democracy."

Between September 2019 and July 2020, Kantwill allegedly sent over 100 threatening messages to various public figures via Facebook and Instagram, email, and text. He is accused of sending threats to a religious leader, author, and television personality, according to the release.

Between April 2022 and April 2024, Kantwill reportedly sent at least seven additional threats to four public figures via Facebook, including one to an election official in another state on February 9.

Kantwill, who operated a practice in Sun City Center, FL, that is now listed as permanently closed, is accused of sending the following message: "You are a degenerate c— and you are now the target of our own investigation. Take note because liberal t—s like you get raped in alleys, by really big black guys that serve our cause. So, you t—s are going to get raped by at least 5 n—s, and do nothing. You are the number 1 target, you degenerate t—s," according to the release.

"If you threaten someone with violence, we will take you at your word," U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg of the Middle District of Florida said in the release.