Donald Trump’s Fulton County jail mug shot, Fulton County DA Fani Willis (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
A Huntsville, Alabama, supporter of Donald Trump was angry enough about the former president’s mug shot that three weeks prior to the jailhouse photograph being taken in Fulton County, Georgia, he left threatening voicemails for District Attorney Fani Willis (D) and the local sheriff, a two-count indictment alleges.
On Aug. 6, just over a week before Trump and his allies were indicted for racketeering and other crimes in connection with attempts to overturn the 2020 election outcome in the Peach State, Arthur Ray Hanson II allegedly threatened Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat by warning him “you gonna get f—ed up” and “some bad s—t’s gonna happen” if he made Trump pose for a mug shot.
“ARTHUR RAY HANSON, II, consciously disregarding a substantial risk that his communication would be viewed as threatening violence, knowingly transmitted a communication in interstate and foreign commerce, from the State of Alabama to the State of Georgia, that contained a threat to injure Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat,” the indictment based in the Northern District of Georgia began. “[S]pecifically, HANSON called the Fulton County Government customer service line and left a voicemail message for Sheriff Labat in which HANSON made statements, which included, but were not limited to, the following: ‘if 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 s—’s probably gonna happen to you.””
“[I]f you take a mugshot of the President and you’re the reason it happened, some bad s—t’s gonna happen to you,’” Hanson allegedly repeated. “I’m warning you right now before you f— up your life and get hurt real bad.”
The defendant allegedly said that he didn’t care if Labat was a law enforcement officer.
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“[W]hether you got a goddamn badge or not ain’t gonna help you none,” the suspect allegedly said on the voicemail, adding: “[Y]ou gonna get f—ed up you keep f—ing with my President.”
The grand jury indictment also alleged that Hanson left a message for DA Willis, telling her through the Fulton County Government customer service line that she she should be afraid:
[…] HANSON made statements, which included, but were not limited to, the following: “watch it when you’re going to the car at night, when you’re going into your house, watch everywhere that you’re going;” “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;” “there’s gonna be moments when you’re gonna be vulnerable;” “when you charge Trump on that fourth indictment, anytime you’re alone, be looking over your shoulder;” and “what you put out there, b—, comes back at you ten times harder, and don’t ever forget it.”
Hanson was indicted on two counts for sending threatening interstate communications. Under 18 U.S. Code § 875(c), “Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
Read the indictment here.
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