An Alabama man made his first court appearance ahead of his arraignment next month on charges of making alleged threats against Georgia officials involved in the arrest and prosecution of Donald Trump.
A federal grand jury in Atlanta indicted Arthur Ray Hanson II, of Huntsville, on charges of transmitting interstate threats. Prosecutors say he planned to injure Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Sheriff Patrick Labat over their connection to the arrest and prosecution to Trump. His trial over allegedly trying to illegally overturn the Presidential election results will take place next year.
Published reports quote Hanson as saying "…if you think you gonna take a mugshot of my President and it's gonna be ok, you gonna find out that after you take that mugshot, some bad [expletive]'s probably gonna happen to you."
Federal officials in the case stressed the seriousness of the charges.
"Threats against public servants are not only illegal, but also a threat against our democratic process," said FBI Special Agent in Atlanta, Keri Farley. "The FBI's mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. We take this responsibility very seriously and seek to punish those who engage in this type of criminal behavior, and to send the message that such conduct will not be tolerated."
Attorney, and prominent conservative media figure, Jenna Ellis was the latest defendant to plead guilty to a felony charge over efforts to overturn Donald Trump's 2020 election loss in Georgia. Ellis tearfully told the judge Tuesday she looks back on that time with "deep remorse." Ellis is the fourth defendant in the case to enter into a plea deal with prosecutors. She was a vocal part of Trump's reelection campaign and was charged alongside the Republican former president and 17 others with violating the state's anti-racketeering law. Steve Sadow, Trump's lead attorney in the Georgia case, used Ellis' plea to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the racketeering charges Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis brought.
