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An unsealed indictment on Monday revealed a federal grand jury indicted an Alabama man because he threatened Fulton County, Georgia’s district attorney and sheriff over President Donald Trump’s legal case, according to The Hill.
The individual allegedly responsible for the threats is 59-year-old Arthur Ray Hanson II. He is charged with two counts of transmitting interstate threats. Hanson threatened both Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat in separate voicemails on Aug. 6.
According to the indictment, Hanson threatened Willis because she intended to charge Trump with his fourth criminal indictment. And Labat was threatened because he spoke to several media outlets about Trump taking a mugshot potentially on Aug. 6, the day the voicemails allegedly occurred.
“When you charge Trump on that fourth indictment, anytime you’re alone, be looking over your shoulder,” Hanson said in an alleged voicemail to Willis.
Even after this voicemail threat, Willis indicted Trump and 18 others on Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization charges (RICO). The charges were brought forward claiming Trump and his co-conspirators were involved in a plan to overthrow the 2020 election.
Labat also was undeterred by Hanson’s threat because after Trump’s indictment, a mug shot was released of Trump that went viral.
“If you think you gonna take a mug shot of my President Donald Trump and it’s gonna be OK, you gonna find out that after you take that mugshot, some bad sh–’s probably gonna happen to you,” Hanson allegedly said in the voicemail to Labat.
AP News spoke with Hanson, who said he’s “not that person that you think at all.” He also added that “nobody was ever gonna hurt anybody, ever, to my knowledge.”
“Sending interstate threats to physically harm prosecutors and law enforcement officers is a vile act intended to interfere with the administration of justice and intimidate individuals who accept a solemn duty to protect and safeguard the rights of citizens,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a release regarding the unsealed indictment. “When someone threatens to harm public servants for doing their jobs to enforce our criminal laws, it potentially weakens the very foundation of our society.”
Hanson first appeared in court in Huntsville. The Trump supporter is currently scheduled to be arraigned in Atlanta on Nov. 13.
