Election Day 2018: Pennsylvania Man Arrested for Threatening to Shoot up Polling Station, Police Say

A Pennsylvania man was arrested Nov. 6, for allegedly threatening to shoot up a polling station at South Franklin Township.

Christopher Queen, the suspect, was taken into custody after he told workers that he would be given a gun and money if he voted “straight party,” WPXI reported, without elaborating.

Poll station workers said he got angry when they told him that he wasn’t registered to vote.

Then, he threatened to come back and shoot them.

Queen, 48, was charged with making terroristic threats, a felony, and disorderly conduct, according to local reports.

“Witnesses told me an elderly poll worker was shaking uncontrollably after he left,” said reporter Cara Sapida of WPXI.

WTAE reported police arrested him at his home.

Other details about the incident aren’t clear.

‘Ongoing Threat of Violence’

On Nov. 5, the FBI, along with the Department of Homeland Security said there is an “ongoing threat of violence,” according to a bulletin that was sent to high-ranking officials about election day security, KTRK reported.

“Both domestic extremists and (radicalized jihadists) have previously targeted public events and government officials, and we remain concerned by the ongoing threat of lone offender violence,” the statement says. “We are concerned some domestic extremists and (radicalized jihadists) may perceive the election or transition period (which in most cases will extend through January 2019) as an opportunity to engage in violence, including assaults against political or prominent public figures and low-level acts of violence against governmental and nongovernmental institutions associated with political figures or the democratic process.”

Federal officials also issued a statement on Nov. 5 that they’ve “been working in unprecedented ways to combat influence efforts and to support state and local officials in securing our elections, including efforts to harden election infrastructure against interference.”