CT man charged with harassing government officials including Lamont, Murphy on social media

A Manchester man has been charged with harassment after reportedly threatening Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy on Instagram, state police said.

Sean Palla, 35, turned himself in to state police on a warrant Wednesday and has been charged with second-degree harassment for reportedly leaving threatening comments on Lamont’s Instagram account, tagging the governor and Murphy, according to Connecticut State Police Troop H.

Palla allegedly used the username “t0psecretalien” to post a comment that said: “Hey @govnedlamont you are DEAD! Along with @senchrismurphy #ICANTLETMESEEDDOWN.” The post tagged the governor and senator’s official Instagram accounts, state police said.

On May 25, detectives reached out to Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Instagram, submitting an emergency information request for user information. They received results later that day and learned that the username was linked to the email address containing Palla’s name.

Detectives went to Palla’s home that date and he reportedly admitted that he had created the account and posted the comments, “due to his frustration with the Connecticut government,” according to state police.

He told police his account had not been hacked and admitted to posting the threatening comment to get Lamont and Murphy’s attention, state police said.

Palla told police he had “no intention of causing harm” and reportedly said he was “referencing his belief that Governor Lamont is ‘Brain dead’ and has no idea what’s happening with the state of Connecticut.” He also told police he did not have the means to cause harm to either public official.

Detectives found that Palla has no known weapons registered to him, according to state police.

Palla turned himself in to Troop H around 10:45 p.m. on Wednesday. He was released on a $1500 bond and was scheduled to be arraigned in court in Hartford on July 14, state police said.

Palla has a pending case in the Manchester court district and has pleaded guilty to charges of intimidation based on bigotry or bias, threatening and breach of peace stemming from another state police arrest in October 2021. He is scheduled to appear in court next on those charges on June 29.