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State election official to Trump: 'Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence'

A 20-year-old contractor for Dominion is getting death threats, he said.

ATLANTA — Gabriel Sterling, the voting implementation manager with the Georgia Secretary of State's office is mad. During an afternoon news conference on Tuesday, he was visibly shaken up about some of the threats some election workers have received. 

"It's all gone too far," he said with a raised voice to start the event. "All of it."

It comes after a 20-year-old contractor for Dominion received death threats, Sterling said. He said the worker received threats with a noose on social media -- saying he should be hanged for treason. He said the tech was transporting a report for batches in Gwinnett County. 

"He was just trying to do his job," Sterling said. "It's not right."

Sterling also mentioned Joe diGenova, the attorney for President Donald Trump's campaign, calling for violence against Chris Krebs, a former White House cybersecurity official. 

RELATED: Gov. Kemp responds to Trump's comments, says law prohibits him from 'interfering' in election

"He should be drawn and quartered. Taken out at dawn and shot," diGenova said during The Howie Carr Show. He later said he was joking. 

Sterling called on everyone, including the President and the GOP senators to condemn this type of action. 

"Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language. Senators, you have not condemned this language or these actions. This has to stop! We need you to step up and if you're going to take a position of leadership - show some."

Sterling went on to say that he has security at his home, and he understands that because he is a high-ranking officials. He mentioned his boss, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his wife, have caravans in front of their home. 

RELATED: 'Put up or shut up': Fulton County chairman to critics amid Georgia recount

"It has to stop," he said.

He said that citizens should fight for every legal vote and use their first amendment rights, however, death threats and intimidation is too much. 

He said he couldn't explain the amount of anger he has over all of this -- and that every Georgian and American should feel the same way. 

He concluded with a message for President Trump.

"Mr. President. It looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia. We're investigating. There's always a possibility. I get it. And you have the rights to go through the course. What you don't have the ability to do -- and you need to step up and say this -- is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt. Someone is going to get shot. Someone's going to get killed. And it's not right. It's not right."

"Mr. President, as the secretary said yesterday, people aren't giving you the best advice what's actually going on on the ground. It's time to look forward. If you want to run for re-election in four years, fine, do it. But everything we're seeing right now, there's not a path. Be the bigger man here. And stop. Step in. Tell your supporters: don't be violent. Don't intimidate. All that's wrong. It's un-American."

11Alive has reached out to Georgia Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler for comment. 

We received a statements from each campaign that read: 

"Senator Perdue condemns violence of any kind, against anybody. Period. We won’t apologize for addressing the obvious issues with the way our state conducts its elections. Georgians deserve accountability and improvements to that process — and we’re fighting to make sure the January 5th election is safe, secure, transparent, and accurate." - John Burke, Communications Director

“Like many officials, as someone who has been the subject of threats, of course Senator Loeffler condemns violence of any kind. How ridiculous to even suggest otherwise. We also condemn inaction and lack of accountability in our election system process—and won’t apologize for calling it out. Senator Loeffler will continue fighting to ensure we have a fair, trusted, and accurate election because the future of our country is at stake.” - Stephen Lawson, Campaign Spokesperson 

The president retweeted a video from 11Alive's Chief Investigator Brendan Keefe that shows a clip of Sterling from the news conference.

Trump claims this was a "rigged election" and there "massive voter fraud in Georgia."  However, election officials have repeatedly said there is no evidence of widespread fraud. Twitter also put a disclaimer on the president's tweet, saying "this claim about election fraud is disputed."

CNN reported that a spokesperson from the Trump campaign said "no one should engage in threats or violence, and if that has happened, we condemn that fully."

Watch a replay of Sterling's message here

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