North Dakota man charged with threatening official in email that cited Minnesota shootings
A North Dakota man has been charged with threatening a federal official in an email that refers to the assassination of a prominent Minnesota state lawmaker and the attempted murder of another lawmaker, court records show.
A criminal complaint filed June 17 in federal court alleges that Charles Dalzell, of St. Thomas in northeastern North Dakota, emailed violent threats on the evening of June 15 to a person identified in the filing as "J.P." of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of North Dakota. The complaint did not identify "J.P." by name.
The email, which identified Dalzell as the sender, referred to the shootings of two Democratic lawmakers and their spouses in Minnesota on June 14. Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed while state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were shot multiple times and wounded inside their homes.
"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," Dalzell wrote in the email, 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."
The complaint added that Dalzell said he was ignored by multiple government officials when he tried to receive help with a legal issue. Dalzell also said he was owed money after a court victory and that "police were attempting to silence him so public officials could engage in corruption," according to the complaint.
"I want to avoid any more 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 that it's a bad situation and I wouldn't want any part of it," he wrote, the complaint states.
Dalzell was arrested on June 16 and charged with one count of making threats against a federal official and one count of making interstate threats, according to court records. He made his initial court appearance by video on June 18, the North Dakota Monitor reported.
Complaint: North Dakota man blames federal official for lying to him
According to the complaint, Dalzell said in the email that he asked federally elected public officials for assistance in his legal case but was ignored. He added that police were alerted after his fourth attempt to contact the representatives.
He then said: "Two officers told him that they were not interested in helping him and that he was close to going to jail," the complaint noted, adding that Dalzell blamed "J.P." and other officials for lying to him.
"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.
Dalzell allegedly named two public officials and a judge in the email, whom he claimed "were not effectively performing their duties," according to the complaint. He said he would not back down and was not going anywhere "until [he's] reimbursed what [he's] owed and laws are followed," the complaint states.
The complaint also noted that Dalzell sent an email with the same address to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Dakota in February 2024. In that email, the sender identified themselves as "Chuck Miller" and said they were undergoing a property legal challenge before allegedly appearing to threaten violence.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the email and interviewed Dalzell at his residence in St. Thomas, according to the complaint. Dalzell was warned by the FBI that it was "borderline threatening."
"He was also notified that it was a violation to threaten people over the internet, and his communications were being perceived as threats," according to the complaint.
Report: Man attempted to retrieve gun before sending threatening email
During his court appearance on June 18, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Lee said Dalzell tried to retrieve a gun that had been confiscated from him just days before his arrest, according to the North Dakota Monitor. The gun was taken from him in connection with another case.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s going to the sheriff’s office to retrieve a firearm,” Lee said, according to the news organization.
Investigators also discovered methamphetamine and a machete at Dalzell’s property following his arrest on June 16, the North Dakota Monitor reported. Citing the charges and Dalzell’s criminal history, a judge ordered that Dalzell remain in custody, according to the news organization.
The news organization, citing court records, reported that Dalzell had previously been convicted of disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, and domestic violence. His gun was confiscated from him in connection to a disorderly conduct case.
Political violence remains a concern across the United States
Dalzell's alleged threats come amid a spate of political violence across the United States. Political experts have warned that the heated discourse in the United States risks further violence, though it's been ongoing for years.
The suspect accused of fatally shooting Hortman and injuring Hoffman faces state and federal murder charges. On June 16, a federal prosecutor said the suspect went to the homes of two other state officials the morning he launched the targeted "political assassination."
Those shootings follow two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump, including one incident where he was shot in the ear in July 2024.
Earlier this year, a man set fire to the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro over the Gaza war. And in October 2022, a hammer-wielding attacker broke into the San Francisco home of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and assaulted her husband, Paul Pelosi.
In 2017, a gunman wounded Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, during a congressional baseball practice. In 2011, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona, was injured in a shooting that killed six people at a constituent meeting.
A congressional committee in May noted that the gunman in the 2017 shooting, which also wounded two Capitol police officers, was carrying a list with the names and descriptions of six members of Congress, including two Republicans who were attending practice that day.
Contributing: Susan Miller, Trevor Hughes, and Savannah Kuchar, Paste BN