A North Dakota man has been charged after he allegedly emailed violent threats to a federal prosecutor and cited the weekend fatal shooting of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband.
Charles Dalzell, a 46-year-old from St. Thomas, was arrested on Monday by FBI agents and charged with interstate threats and threats against a federal officials. It’s not immediately clear if he’s retained an attorney.
According to the federal criminal complaint, Dalzell had allegedly sent an email Sunday evening via an obscure address to a “J.P.” of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota. The filing didn’t identify J.P. by name.
The email, which identified Dalzell as the sender, referred to the deadly shootings of Hortman and her husband, the complaint states.
“Now I’m going to be honest with you I don’t want this situation to end up like Minnesota over the weekend, do you,” the email said, according to the complaint. “I’m trying to get all of you to actually follow the law, not ignore me, not lie to me, not mislead me and purposely waist (sic) my time I don’t have.”
“That is what you all have done and this makes me wonder if these bad situations are really what you want or do you hope that I flip out and end up dead by a police officer?” the email added, the complaint states.
Hortman, 55, and her husband, Mark Hortman, were fatally shot at their Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, home early Saturday morning in what authorities have called a politically motivated attack. In that case, the shooting suspect had first opened fire upon state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, and went to the homes of other state politicians.
The Sunday email indicated that Dalzell was allegedly owed money after a court victory. According to the complaint, he claimed he raised concerns regarding his legal case to federally elected public officials but was ignored, and police “were attempting to silence him so public officials could engage in corruption
The complaint said Dalzell indicated two officers told him the public officials were not interested in helping him, and he was close to going to jail.
“Dalzell blamed J.P., among others, for lying to him,” the complaint said.
“Just sitting here wondering what a law maker and a representative were shot and one dead over in Minnesota and one thing comes to mind, something like that doesn’t fall out of the sky now does it … I’m most certainly not making threats but when law makers make laws and the state doesn’t follow the laws they created it would probably piss some people off right…” the email said, according to the complaint.
The email allegedly went on to say: “I don’t know the specifics in this Minnesota case, but a representative and a lawmaker were shot and one of them is dead and all of you mentioned above are basically avoiding your responsibility and that is creating some bad situations.”
“I’m done with you ignoring me, I’m done with the threats of jail and charges … this had god dam better get fixed Monday morning which is tomorrow because I want to avoid anymore problems and don’t want North Dakota to end up like Minnesota and no that is not a threat [J.P.] it’s a fact and a statement,” the email added, according the complaint.
Dalzell allegedly named two public officials and a judge, whom he claimed were not effectively performing their duties. He continued by saying he would not back down “until [he’s] reimbursed,” the complaint said.
The criminal complaint noted that the same email address was investigated for an email threat against the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota back on Feb. 26, 2024.
In that case, the email listed the sender as “Chuck Miller,” and the writer described undergoing a legal challenge.
That email said, “I’m on the very very edge of flipping the fuck out.” It went on to ask for help “before I lose control.”
Dalzell allegedly then appeared to threaten violence.
“I am not asking for help I am demanding it because honestly person to person this is going to turn bad as I am completely surrounded and there’s a word that starts with a V and ends with a T and kinda sounds like violin and that is where this is heading if I don’t get some help,” the email said, according to the complaint.
That day of the February email, the FBI interviewed Dalzell at a residence in St. Thomas. The complaint states that he was confronted with the email alluding to violence and told the FBI he sent that to the state and said he wanted help with his property legal situation.
Dalzell told the FBI that “if he wanted to go shoot a place up he would not advertise it. He told law enforcement that he does not have access to firearms,” the complaint states.
Dalzell is due in court for his first appearance at 5 p.m. ET.
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