West Virginia State Police arrested Delegate-elect Joseph De Soto in Martinsburg early Thursday morning for making “terroristic threats.” Multiple sources told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that De Soto threatened to kill his colleagues.
On Wednesday afternoon, a Martinsburg area law enforcement official received a complaint that De Soto “advised he was going to kill” five West Virginia state lawmakers, according to a Thursday criminal complaint obtained by WVPB.
Per the complaint, an incident during a meeting of the state’s Republican caucus made De Soto feel “he is being attacked and forced out of his position” as a newly elected member of the state legislature.
The complaint alleges that De Soto wrote in a Dec. 10 email, regarding his fellow lawmakers: “I had a vision to destroy them from the vision of Moroni. … They will all go to hell, I will send them there as commanded.”
In a text message, the complainant allegedly asked De Soto to “stop saying [he was] going to kill people,” according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, De Soto responded: “I did (sic) say I am going to kill people I said I am going what (sic) is necessary to put them from office.”
A fellow delegate from West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle who was named in the complaint recounted his experience on social media Wednesday evening, and said he received threats against his life.
“I received a phone call that I’ve been named in a death threat and I have to move my family to safety,” Del. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson, posted to Facebook.
Clark also confirmed he referred to Delegate-elect De Soto in the post.
“I would say that the escalation to this had something to do with what went on in the caucus,” Clark told WVPB Thursday afternoon, referring to Sunday’s House Republican caucus with new members.
Chair of the West Virginia Republican Party Tony Hodge said the Republican Party had taken steps on Sunday to expel De Soto from the party’s caucus.
“The West Virginia Republican Party supports our House leadership and their expulsion efforts. We disavow and condemn the behavior of the former Republican Delegate Elect,” Hodge said in a text to WVPB Thursday afternoon.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
De Soto’s alleged threats followed a caucus meeting where House Republicans allegedly voted to remove him from office. According to the criminal complaint, De Soto said he had a vision to destroy Del. Hite, Del. Funkhouser, Del. Horst, and Del. Clark.
This move by House Republicans is allegedly due to fraudulent claims De Soto made about his past experience, as previously reported by Kyle Vass and Austin Siford of the ACLU of WV in July. De Soto has falsely claimed that he served as a combat medic, is a practicing doctor, worked for the CIA, and negotiated with ISIS.
A representative from the Secretary of State’s office confirmed that prior to his arrest, De Soto switched parties, and is now a registered Democrat. The representative said it is working to confirm what party will now be assigned to fill De Soto’s position if he is removed from office.
Mike Pushkin, chair of the West Virginia Democrat Party, said, per state code, if De Soto leaves office before his term is over, his position will be filled by another Democrat from that district.
In 2018, the legislature passed HB 3004 to change the party appointment process, shifting the process to replace a delegate to the party they were affiliated with at the time vacated their seat, not necessarily the party they were elected under.
“Republicans changed the law over the objections of Democrats, ” Pushkin said.
However, Pushkin said his primary concern at the moment was the wellbeing and safety of fellow lawmakers.
“Nobody should ever feel unsafe just for doing the people’s work. It’s critical that law enforcement and the justice system handle this with seriousness. Threats of violence have no place in our democracy. Period,” Pushkin said.
The West Virginia State Police told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that the police report is not available to the public, and could not confirm any details on the arrest.
Del. Clark did not respond to requests for comment from WVPB about the details of the threat.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, did not return a request for comment about the caucus’ actions around de Soto.
The Berkeley County Republican Executive Committee and the Berkeley County Democratic Party did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
House of Delegates Communications Director Ann Ali told WVPB in an email Thursday afternoon that all delegates were safe.
“The House of Delegates trusts all matters of safety to the Capitol Police and the West Virginia State Police who acted swiftly yesterday to keep all parties safe,” she said.
Thursday afternoon, the Magistrate Court of Berkeley County set De Soto’s bond at $300,000 cash. As of Thursday afternoon it had not been paid, according to the magistrate court website.
De Soto’s preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 23 at 10:50 a.m., according to the magistrate court website.
