TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Tampa dentist pleaded guilty to sending multiple threats from 2019 to 2024 to multiple victims, some of which were racially charged and praised President-elect Donald Trump, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
Court documents show Richard Glenn Kantwill, 61, sent over 100 threats to various public figures from September 2019 to July 2020. The victims were chosen based on their political commentary and were sent through social media, email, and texts.
The FBI interviewed Kantwill on Oct. 15, 2019, after someone complained about threatening messages and warned him to stop, according to a pre-trial motion for detention.
“Despite the FBI’s warning, Kantwill spent the next ten months sending threats to over 40 victims via social media and email,” prosecutors wrote, noting that they’re aware of a violent threat as recently as February.
(Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)
The victims included an author, a religious persona, and a television personality, the DOJ said.
Some of the messages seemed to include racial slurs, which were redacted.
“You, sir, are a degenerate piece of s—. read your article about The Great Donald Trump. It is so blatantly prejudiced that you don’t even attempt to be impartial, you [redacted]. You are gay…I can tell. F– you. I love what Trump does and where he stays. You ignorant [redacted] never cared about how the great ghetto [redacted] Obama and how he got rich, but your going to get a hard-on about where Trump stays. So blatantly ignorant, and liberally immoral. God bless the Great President Trump and his family. F– you and yours. Hire extra security…you’re gonna need it. I plan on f—- you up…just for the fun of it.”
Another message called a victim a “fake Reverend.”
“We are going to kill you. Torture first, then death. You will deny Christ, just like Judas because you are a coward. Either way…prepare to die. You won’t see Christ….because you as re an immoral degenerate.”
Kantwill also allegedly sent a threatening message to a politician, also containing an apparent racial slur.
“You are a degenerate c— and you are now the target of our own investigation. Take note because liberal [redacted] like you get raped in alleys, by really big black guys that serve our cause. So, you [redacted] are going to get raped by at least 5 [redacted] and do nothing. You are the number 1 target, you degenerate [redacted].”
Kantwill also sent a text message to investigators after refusing to speak with the FBI.
“God bless America!!! F— Biden!!!!” Kantwill wrote, followed by another middle finger emoji.
Kantwill also sent at least seven more threats to four public figures via Facebook from April 2022 to April 2024, including to an election official in another state.
“With this plea, the Justice Department is ensuring that Richard Kantwill faces accountability for targeting an election official and other public figures with over 100 heinous threats,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “In the three years since I created the Department’s Election Threats Task Force we have worked to aggressively combat the dangerous increase in violent threats against the public servants who administer our elections.
“Today’s action is yet another warning: the Justice Department will not stand for threats of violence that endanger people’s safety and endanger our democracy.”
Colorado Secretary of State: ‘I will not be intimidated’
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who was threatened by Kantwill, issued a statement on Wednesday.
“Threats to try to intimidate election officials are unacceptable. I will not be intimidated. I want to thank the Justice Department, FBI, and law enforcement for taking these threats seriously,” she said.
Griswold said in a release that she was called the “number 1 target” by Kantwill, and he included a reference to targeted violence against the election official. The threat used racist, misogynistic, sexist and vulgar slurs, according to her office. She said that since the case was filed in September 2023, she’s received over 1,000 violent threats or death threats.
The threat was made the day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing on Donald J. Trump v. Norma Anderson, et al., which sought to answer whether Trump could be disqualified from appearing on Colorado presidential ballots because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol while members of Congress attempted to certify election results.
On March 4, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states do not have the authority to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment for federal candidates before Congressional action.
Griswold said that at least three other individuals have either been convicted of or pleaded guilty to making threats of violence against her as an elected official
Kantwill pleaded guilty to four counts of interstate transmission of a threat. He faces up to five years in prison for each count. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled for a later date.
