Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was attacked last month by a «heavily armed» man who threatened to injure and kill Jewish members of the state’s government, she said Thursday morning.
Jack Eugene Carpenter III is accused of tweeting: «I return to Michigan and now I threaten to carry out the death sentence on anyone who is a Jew in Michigan government if they don’t leave or confess and now that kind of problem,» according to a complaint Criminal filed on February 18.
«Because legally I can do that, right?» she added, according to the complaint.
Carpenter’s mother confirmed to investigators that the tweets came from him and that, to her knowledge, he was in possession of «three handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun and two hunting rifles, one of which is a military-style weapon.» MINE». complaint said.
Nessel said in a tweet Thursday that the FBI confirmed that she had been one of the officials attacked by «the heavily armed defendant in this matter.»
“It is my sincere hope that federal authorities take this crime as seriously as my Hate Crimes and Domestic Terrorism Unit takes plots to assassinate elected officials,” said Nessel, a Democrat.
Nessel’s spokesman had no immediate comment.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was also attacked in 2020 by a group of men planning to kidnap her. Whitmer, also a Democrat, drew hate from far-right groups for her efforts to slow the spread of covid.
Carpenter had also threatened violence against law enforcement in his tweets, according to the criminal complaint.
“I will return to Michigan, still driving with expired plates. You may want to let everyone know, and the Wayne County Sheriff as well, that any attempt to subdue me will be met with deadly force in self defense,” he tweeted.
Because he sent the tweets from Texas, Carpenter has been charged by Interstate Communications. It was not immediately clear Thursday whether he had an attorney.