Two men were charged after allegedly threatening Michigan lawmakers and a judge in relation to the 2020 presidential election.
Daniel Thompson, 62, was charged with three counts of malicious use of service provided by a telecommunications service provider after he left threatening messages for Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, while Clinton Stewart, 43, was charged with one count of the same crime for threatening Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens, the state’s attorney general said in a statement on Tuesday.
“It is unacceptable and illegal to intimidate or threaten public officials,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. “To those who think they can do so by hiding behind a keyboard or phone, we will find you and we will prosecute you, to the fullest extent of the law. No elected official should have to choose between doing their job and staying safe.”
FINGER-POINTING DOMINATES HEARING ON CAPITOL HILL
Thompson, who faces a six-month sentence and a $1,000 fine for each count, is accused of leaving threatening messages on Jan. 5, the day before the Capitol riot, and making “vulgar and threatening remarks” in a conversation with a member of Slotkin’s office on Jan. 19, according to Nessel’s office. Thompson identified himself as a Republican in a voicemail left for the senator, and he also said that he was “angry about the results of the November election, that he joined a Michigan militia, and that there will be violence if the election results were not changed.”
In the conversation with a Slotkin staffer, Thompson referenced the Capitol riot, which took place as Congress worked to certify President Biden’s electoral victory, and claimed that people would die, Nessel’s office said. He is also accused of making a threatening call to Slotkin in April of 2020.
The charges against Thompson involving the incident with Stabenow and an April 2020 call to Slotkin were filed in Livingston County District Court, the state attorney general’s statement said. The charge involving the second call to Slotkin was filed in Clare County District Court.
Five people died during the siege of Congress. Capitol Police said Officer Brian Sicknick was fatally injured during the siege. He received the rare tribute of lying in honor in the Capitol rotunda before his cremated remains were sent to Arlington National Cemetery. Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran and Trump supporter, was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer while attempting to climb through a window into the Speaker’s Lobby. Three others died from “medical emergencies,” according to officials.
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Former President Donald Trump, who contested the results of the election, was impeached by the Democratic-led House for incitement of insurrection in connection to the attack on Congress, but he was acquitted by the Senate earlier this month.
Stewart, a Georgia resident, allegedly left a threatening voicemail for Stephens on Sept. 18 in which he accused “activist judges” of making rulings on mail-in ballots that favored then-candidate Biden. He faces a six-month sentence and a $1,000 fine as well. The charge filed against Stewart was filed in Wayne County’s 36th District Court in Detroit.
Local reports on Tuesday afternoon said arraignments of the defendants are pending and that no other court dates were set.
