Not long after reports indicated that federal law enforcement personnel were involved in responding to any threats made against certain individuals tied to a Georgia criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump and others, there’s an arrest.
Authorities have announced charges against an Alabama man named Arthur Ray Hanson, II, who allegedly left multiple voicemails with Fulton County authorities in Georgia that contained threatening remarks directed both at local prosecutor Fani Willis and local Sheriff Patrick Labat. Hanson, who already made an initial appearance in federal court, is charged with transmitting interstate threats.
Hanson’s alleged comments towards Willis, who brought the Trump case, included: “I would be very afraid if I were you because you can’t be around people all the time that are going to protect you.” He’s alleged to have left these messages with a customer service line for the local government in Fulton County, Georgia, where besides Trump, Willis’ case also names 18 other individuals — some of whom have accepted plea deals.
That list includes multiple attorneys with connections to the former president, like Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, and Jenna Ellis. Among other ties, Chesebro helped formulate and push the ambition for assembling sham slates of electoral college members backing Trump in states like Georgia where the evidence showed that Biden was victorious.
Authorities characterized Hanson’s behavior as a potentially serious threat to the functioning of democracy itself.
“When someone threatens to harm public servants for doing their jobs to enforce our criminal laws, it potentially weakens the very foundation of our society. Our office will labor tirelessly with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to help ensure that law enforcement officials are free to serve our communities without the threat of physical attack,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said. Buchanan is the top federal prosecutor for the northern district of Georgia. Hanson, meanwhile, also raised specific complaints in those voice messages about Trump being subjected to a mugshot, authorities alleged. Read more at this link.
