Washington— The 15 comments came across a series of eight days in July, posted under pseudonyms alluding to the perpetrators of some of the most infamous mass shootings in U.S. history, including Sandy Hook Elementary School and Aurora, Colorado.
"That POS Judge … MUST have her life ENDED Immediately! Get it done, Patriots!!" readone post, referring to a federal judge in California.
Another named members of Congress: "This is GREAT! Now I can use a, high-powered firearm to take care of [four members of Congress], and the Squad members … for starters! Wish me Luck."
The posts targeted a Supreme Court justice, seven federal judges and 11 lawmakers, and included what prosecutors said were "thinly veiled racial epithets."
The comments, posted in response to news articles, were traced back to a Minnesota man, Jeffrey Petersen, who admitted to the FBI that he was behind some of the postings and acknowledged they "got out of hand," according to prosecutors'filings. Petersen was first indicted last October on 20 counts and pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer is seeking to have the charges dismissed, arguing that Petersen was engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment. While the comments may have expressed wishes of death, they didn't indicate Petersen had any plans to kill the officials, his defense lawyer said.
Petersen is one of 126 people charged last year for making threats to federal and top state officials, according to a CBS News analysis of court records from all 94 federal judicial districts. CBS News examined cases brought under federal statutes that make it a crime to threaten to kill or harm the president and successors to the presidency, and to transmit threatening communications.
The National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Prosecution Project alsocontributeddata.
The threats that have resulted in charges do not discriminate in their targets. They were leveled against officials working in all three branches of government — from judges to members of Congress to law enforcement officers to President Trump and former President Joe Biden — and directed at those in the highest levels of state government.
The volume of cases marks a more than three-fold increase in the number of federal prosecutions arising out of threats to public officials over the past decade. 2025 surpassed 2024 in threats-related cases,according to NCITE.
Source: Drudge Report
