A former Florida congressional candidate is facing two felony counts for allegedly making death threats on social media against two women if they did not support Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon.

Two days after Elijah Manley came in third place in the hotly contested August Democratic primary in Florida’s 20th Congressional District, he allegedly told two women on Facebook he would “make your life a living hell” and “cut your fucking head off” if they did not vote for Nixon, according to an arrest affidavit reviewed by MS NOW.

The person who filed the police report did so a day after the alleged posts, on Aug. 21. In one of the posts, Manley, 27, allegedly wrote: “I’m talking to y’all. I saw y’all comments earlier. I’m already pissed off, do not piss me off more. I swear to god, take me to war over this black woman and I promise y’all I will burn y’all mf castle to the ground and everyone else in my way.”Nixon, who is Black, is facing off against incumbent Republican Sen. Ashley Moody, who is white, in the critical Senate race.

In another post, Manley allegedly wrote: “This the kind of shii that will make me snap. Any of you that don’t support [redacted] I promise I will make your life a living hell to the very end. You better lineup behind the Democratic nominee like we always do.”He also allegedly wrote: “Every democrat needs to get behind the democratic nominee for Senate. Anybody not doing that, I promise you I’m going to cut your fucking head off.”It is unclear what comments or messages Manley was responding to. Both Facebook representatives and Manley confirmed to authorities that he wrote the comments, according to the affidavit.

Manley earned the support of progressives, including Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., in his campaign for the Democratic nomination in the South Florida district, which was represented by a Black lawmaker for more than 30 years. Manley, who is Black, and much of the local Black Democratic establishment criticized Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is white, for opting to run in the district after her neighboring district was redrawn to lean more Republican.

But Wasserman Schultz ultimately triumphed in the primary, earning about 46% of the vote, ahead of second-place finisher Dale Holness, who received about 23%, and Manley, who received 14% of the vote. Two days later, Manley allegedly made the Facebook threats.

Manley told police he and one of the recipients “were having a political disagreement over a party candidate and the comments made did not have any actual intention of harm, but a challenge to their political views,” adding that he did not intend to perpetrate any harm. He also told authorities he had previously had “casual and polite” encounters with the women “despite having differing political opinions.”The women who received the messages told authorities they were “concerned for their safety” and interpreted the term “castle” to refer to their homes, according to the affidavit.

They also reported the posts to Meta, the company that operates Facebook, but according to the affidavit, the company’s response was that the posts “failed to meet their safety guidelines” for removal.

After other commenters told Manley to tone down his rhetoric, he allegedly replied: “I’m not toning anything down. I’m tired of being told tone my voice while white people get away with destroying everything. I want all white people to vote for the Democratic nominee.”Manley turned himself in to police in Fort Lauderdale last Friday, three days after a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to court records reviewed by MS NOW. He was released on $40,000 bond and ordered not to possess weapons, contact the victims or use social media.

Manley directed a request for comment to his attorney, Khurrum Wahid, who said in a statement that his client denies the allegations and characterized the comments in question as part of a “political discussion.”“We are confident that a trier of fact will see there is no intent to carry out any act of violence,” Wahid said. “It is unfortunate that our political differences have led some to weaponizing the police instead of using dialogue.”Spokespeople for Nixon’s and Wasserman Schultz’s campaigns did not respond to requests for comment from MS NOW.

A spokesperson for the Broward State Attorney’s Office said the office will not prosecute Manley’s case because of a conflict of interest: The people who reported the alleged threats have participated in charity drives organized by the office over the years. Officials requested Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office assign the case to another office, the spokesperson said. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If convicted, Manley could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 on each count.

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