Alabama man charged with threatening Georgia prosecutor in Trump case
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis during an August press conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo: Christian MonterrosaO/AFP via Getty Images
An Alabama man has been indicted for allegedly threatening Fulton County's district attorney and sheriff over the arrest and prosecution of former President Trump in his Georgia criminal case.
The big picture: A federal grand jury in Atlanta indicted Arthur Ray Hanson, II, on charges of transmitting interstate threats to injure Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis and Sheriff Patrick Labat after leaving two voicemails for the officials on Aug. 6, per a Department of Justice statement Monday.
Driving the news: Prosecutors allege 59-year-old Hanson, from Huntsville, left Willis statements including warning her to "watch everywhere that you're going" and to be "very afraid if I were you because you can't be around people all the time that are going to protect you."
- He also allegedly said: "When you charge Trump on that fourth indictment, anytime you're alone, be looking over your shoulder ... what you put out there, [expletive], comes back at you 10 times harder, and don't ever forget it."
Of note: Prosecutors said Hanson made reference to the sheriff's office announcing it would release a mugshot of Trump following his then-expected surrender to authorities in the Georgia election interference case:
"[I]f you think you gonna take a mugshot of my President Donald Trump 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 ... if you take a mugshot of the President and you're the reason it happened, some bad [expletive]'s gonna happen to you ... I'm warning you right now before you [expletive] up your life and get hurt real bad ... whether you got a [expletive] badge or not ain't gonna help you none;" and "you gonna get [expletive]ed up you keep [expletive]ing with my President."— Excerpts from sentences prosecutors allege Hanson said in a voicemail to Labat
- Trump was indicted eight days after the threatening voicemails were made in Willis' sprawling racketeering case against the former president and 18 other defendants. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
What they're saying: "Threats against public servants are not only illegal, but also a threat against our democratic process," said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, which has been investigating the case.
What's next: Hanson was indicted on Oct. 25 but the charges were released Monday. He will be formally arraigned in Atlanta on Nov. 13.
Go deeper: FBI and DHS warn of spike in threats to law enforcement after Trump search
