LANSING, Mich. — A woman has been charged with making threats against a Detroit-area Republican election official.
Wayne County canvasser Monica Palmer made national headlines when she initially refused to certify local election results in favor of Joe Biden.
The FBI says Palmer received text messages with photos of a mutilated body one day after that chaotic board meeting. Intimidating messages were also sent to Palmer’s Instagram page from a user named “_etfere.”
Katelyn Jones, a resident of Olivet at the time the threats were made, was arrested in New Hampshire where she was living with her mother.
Threats included posting Palmer’s personal information such as her address, phone number, and husband’s phone number and encouraged other users to leave Palmer messages “or for more fun stop by their house.”
They also threatened Palmer’s daughter, saying “Hmmm it’d be a shame if something happened to your daughter at school.”
Law enforcement found the text messages and Instagram posts came from the same person due to the similarity of the threats and expressions used. Police used records related to the Instagram account to identify Jones and found evidence linking the phone number to her mother’s home in Epping, New Hampshire.
On Dec. 10 FBI agents conducted surveillance at Jones’ mother’s house and executed a search warrant on Dec. 22. Jones was located at the home and admitted to agents that she was responsible for the threats.
“The allegations in this case should make all of us disgusted,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said in a statement. “There is simply no place in Michigan, or in the United States, for chilling threats like this to people who are simply doing what they believe is correct.”
Jones is charged with transmitting threats of violence through interstate commerce and faces up to 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000, if convicted.
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