North Dakota man accused of threatening officials, referencing Minnesota lawmaker shootings

A North Dakota man was taken into custody earlier this week following an email he reportedly sent threatening public officials.

Charles Dalzell, 46, of St. Thomas, North Dakota, is facing federal charges of interstate threats and threats against a federal official.

Dalzell reportedly sent an email on Sunday in which he threatened two public officials and a judge by name, referencing the shootings in Minnesota, which killed Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and injured Minnesota Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.

RELATED: Vance Boelter’s 90 minutes of terror: 4 lawmakers’ homes, 2 shot and 2 killed

The email, according to court documents, was in reference to a court case Dalzell had been involved in.

Dalzell claimed money he was owed wasn’t given to him following the court case, and accused the three ND officials of corruption.

“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,” the email reportedly said. “I’m not impressed with this corrupt behavior and I’m not going to tolerate it.”

Court documents claimed Dalzell demanded the situation be “fixed” by Monday, seemingly threatening to make a similar attack to what happened in Minnesota.

“This — better get fixed Monday morning, which is tomorrow, because I want to avoid any more problems and don’t want North Dakota to end up like Minnesota,” the email reportedly stated. “That is not a threat — it’s a fact and a statement that it’s a bad situation and I wouldn’t want any part of it.”

It’s not the only time Dalzell has been accused of emailing concerning messages. Back in 2024, an email from the same email address that made the aforementioned threats also sent a “borderline” threat, which prompted law enforcement to speak with him.