Election official, public figures ‘terrorized’ online by Florida dentist for years, FBI says
A Florida dentist pled guilty on Tuesday to making violent online threats to multiple public figures, including an election official, in what the FBI called a “year-long campaign of terror.”
Image by Getty Images.
A Florida dentist has pleaded guilty to making violent online threats to multiple public figures, including an election official, in what the FBI called a “year-long campaign of terror.”
Federal prosecutors said the Tampa-based dentist, 61-year-old Richard Glenn Kantwill, sent hundreds of “disturbing” threats to at least 42 victims over text, email, Facebook, and Instagram, beginning in late summer 2019.
Kantwill, who pled guilty in Florida Middle District Court on Monday to four counts of interstate transmission of a threat, was said to have sent over 100 “heinous” and “disturbing” messages to various high-profile individuals – targeting them because of their political views.
The guilty admission could land Kantwill up to 20 years in federal prison if given the maximum five-year sentence for each count.
“Today’s guilty plea is the next step in holding Richard Kantwill accountable for his almost year-long campaign of terror, sending more than 100 violent threats to over 40 victims including various public figures and an election official,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
A Florida dentist pleaded guilty today to sending threats to three victims in 2019 and 2020 and to an election official in 2024.
undefined Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) November 25, 2024
🔗: https://t.co/50rPNLAkEy pic.twitter.com/MJYlQi0tdv
The messages sent between August 2019 through July 2020 (and again starting in 2022), would contain threats of death or bodily injury, and were often racist and homophobic, prosecutors said.
Victims included politicians, celebrities, religious clergy, authors, and even a television personality.
From April 2022 to 2024, Kantwill was accused of sending an “additional seven threats to four public figures on Facebook, including to an election official in February" – also one of the counts he pled guilty to on Monday, the FBI said.
Singling out “the government, minorities, and other entities for being the reason he had been speaking out,” Kantwill, a US Army veteran, would boast in the messages of “enjoying violence” and having access to “many weapons.”
Below is an example of an email Kantwill admitted sending to Victim 1:
“You, sir, are a degenerate piece of shit read your article about The Great Donald Trump. It is so blatantly prejudiced that you don't even attempt to be impartial, you fk You are gay...I can tell….Fk you and yours. Hire extra security...you're gonna need it. I plan on fk you up...just for the fun of it."
Victim speaks out on Instagram
One of the victims, Christian minister Reverend Doctor Chuck Currie, an outspoken critic of the newly re-elected former President Donald Trump, posted a letter on social media on Monday thanking the US Department of Justice for securing a guilty plea against the dentist.
Although Reverend Currie was not confirmed as the recipient, the following threatening message was identified by the FBI as sent to Victim 2:
“Hi fake Reverend... you should know...being the anti-Christian piece of shit that you are, that 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.”
In his Instagram post, Currie wrote of Kantwill’s threats “against numerous people, myself included, for our opposition to Donald Trump and the racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and xenophobia that Mr. Trump embodies."
“In a democracy, no one should have their life threatened because of their religious or political views: not me, not Mr. Trump, which is why I have always condemned violent rhetoric, regardless of where such rhetoric is aimed,” Currie said.
The Oregon-based minister also called out Trump, accusing him of “inciting much of the violence and discord in our politics today.” Currie further said he would not be surprised if Trump pardoned Kantwill once he takes office in January 2025.
“Still, I hope this verdict and the years Dr. Kantwill may spend behind bars serve as a deterrent,” Currie said, ending the letter by promising to continue to speak out on political matters, regardless of threat from his [Trump} supporters."
Questioned by the FBI
“Make no mistake, using electronic communications to threaten victims with violence is illegal and the FBI will continue to pursue those who seek to cause fear and terror by sending such violent threats,” FBI Director Wray said.
The FBI said even after bringing Kantwill in for questioning in 2019, he continued the online intimidation practices.
In fact, when the FBI approached him again in 2021, Kantwill responded by text with “two middle finger emojis” and an “F YOU,” spelled out in all caps, the Miami Herald reported at the time.
Prosecutors, labeling Kantwill as “a danger to the community,” said that at some point, one of the victims became so fearful that they installed $4,500 worth of surveillance cameras on their premises in case the veteran made good on his promises.
Meantime, Kantwill, who originally pled not guilty to the charges brought against him on June 20th, claimed his actions were being “blown out of proportion.”
Kantwill’s public defender had appealed to the court, noting the now-former dentist had no criminal history and was struggling with alcoholism, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his military service.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date, US Justice Department officials said.