Virginia
Virginia man threatened to set Kamala Harris on fire, FBI says
A Virginia man was arrested late last week, accused by the FBI of making online threats to kill Vice President Kamala Harris and other public officials.
According to court records reviewed by Newsweek, Frank Carillo of Winchester, Virginia, was charged with making threats against the vice president of the United States after investigators found that he had made several threatening statements on microblogging platform GETTR. Carillo had his first court appearance in the Western District of Virginia on Monday, where a judge ruled that the defendant be detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday.
FBI special agent Melissa Macaron wrote in a criminal complaint that investigators first received reports of Carillo’s posts on July 27 after he made an online threat toward a Maricopa County election official in Phoenix, Arizona. The threat read in part, “somebody needs to kill this f***.” The name of the official was redacted from the court documents.
Agents at the FBI’s Phoenix office made requests to GETTR to review more of Carillo’s account and it was discovered that he had made approximately 4,359 posts targeting various public officials, according to court documents. The names included Harris, President Joe Biden, FBI Director Christopher Wray and others who were not mentioned in the records.
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Investigators say that Carillo mentioned Harris 19 times on his social media account, including in one threat made on July 27, which read, “Kamala Harris needs to be put on fire alive I will do it personally if no one else does it I want her to suffer a slow agonizing death.”
In another post on the same day, Carillo wrote, according to court documents, “Harris is going to regret ever trying to become president because if that ever happened I will personally pluck out her eyes with a pair of pliers but first I will shoot and kill everyone that gets in my way that is a f****** promise.”
The July 27 post arrived just six days after Harris announced her bid for the Oval Office and two weeks after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Since the shooting, which left Trump with an injury to the tip of his right ear, law enforcement charged two Florida men in threats against public officials. One, arrested July 15 by the Secret Service, was accused of threatening to kill Biden. The second, arrested on July 19, was charged with making threats toward Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
Carillo was also accused of making several posts that talked about using firearms to shoot people. The criminal complaint included examples of threats that targeted Muslims, immigrants and Canadian Prime Minister Justice Trudeau.
FBI officials identified Carillo through subscriber information provided by GETTR. A search warrant of his residence was carried out on Friday, during which law enforcement found a RF-15 rifle and 9 mm handgun. Carillo also asked an officer during the search if it was “about the online stuff” he “posted,” according to authorities.
He was arrested following the search and the felony charge against him carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Newsweek reached out to the public defender assigned to Carillo via email for comment on Monday.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia said in a news release related to Carillo’s arrest, “Open political discourse is a cornerstone of our American experience. We can disagree. We can argue and we can debate. However, when those disagreements cross the line to threats of violence, law enforcement must step in.”
Virginia
Honking on the highway: Family of geese escorted off I-66 in Virginia
Those honks you heard on I-66? They weren’t from cars.
Police officers in Northern Virginia herded a family of Canada geese off the highway Thursday afternoon, as lanes were shut down to keep everyone safe.
The geese were spotted on I-66 westbound near the exit for Sycamore Street. Metro Transit Police got to them first, and Arlington County officers and Virginia State Police also responded to help, acording to Arlington County Police.
Video shows police vehicles slowly following the geese — two adults with a cluster of fuzzy yellow goslings — as they waddled along the far right shoulder toward milemarker 69.6.
Lane closures were put into effect about 1:30 p.m., and police were able to escort the geese off the highway within about 15 minutes.
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County police quipped on Facebook: “What’s good for the goose…is probably to stay of I-66. 🪿 Virginia State Police , Metro Forward Police Department, Virginia Department of Transportation and ACPD officers worked together to assist a family of geese off a busy highway in a feat so great it gave us goosebumps!”
Virginia
More than 300 pounds of marijuana worth $1M seized in Bristol, Virginia State Police says
BRISTOL, Va. (WCYB) — More than 300 pounds of marijuana worth more than $1 million were seized this month in Bristol, according to the Virginia State Police.
Multiple search warrants were executed this month by VSP and the Holston River Regional Drug Task Force in at various areas across the city between May 1 and May 13.
On May 1, a search warrant was executed at a business on Euclid Avenue. Around three pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value of $13,500. The location was within a school zone and a childcare facility.
On May 6, another search warrant was executed at a warehouse in Bristol. Virginia State Police seized 250 pounds of marijuana (street value of $1,135,000), 192 marijuana plants ($576,000), 50 pounds of THC edibles ($22,700). Charges are forthcoming, police said.
Another search warrant was executed on May 13 at a business on West State Street. Around 25 pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value of $112,500. Additional evidence was also seized.
In addition, another search warrant was executed on May 13 at a business on Paulena Drive. About 30 pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value of $135,000. Additional evidence was also seized.
The Office of the Attorney General is reviewing the investigation for any possible applicable civil enforcement actions.
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The Holston River Regional Drug Task Force includes the Town of Abingdon Police Department, Bristol Police Department, the Russell County Sheriff’s Office, and the Town of Lebanon Police Department, as well as Virginia State Police.
Virginia
Va. governor concerned redistricting battle could make voters reluctant to cast ballot this fall – WTOP News
Days after Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court as part of their ongoing redistricting battle, Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she’s focused on the fall midterm elections and ensuring voters are motivated to turn out.
Days after Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court as part of their ongoing redistricting battle, Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she’s focused on the fall midterm elections and ensuring voters are motivated to turn out.
After a bill signing at Inova Schar Cancer Institute on Wednesday, Spanberger made her most extensive public comments about the state’s redistricting plan. She cited the state’s May 12 deadline for any map changes, and said as a result, this year’s elections will proceed under the current map.
Spanberger’s remarks came a few days after Virginia’s Supreme Court struck down the Democrat-led redistricting push. Primaries in the state are scheduled for Aug. 4, with the November general election to follow.
“What needs to happen is we need to focus on the task at hand, which is winning races in November,” Spanberger said.
“I believe, somewhat doggedly, that we will win two to four seats in the House of Representatives. … That is my goal. That is what I know is possible.”
The map Democrats proposed, experts said, could have resulted in a 10-1 Democratic majority representing Virginia in the U.S. House. But Republicans challenged the process Democrats in the General Assembly used to put the constitutional amendment before voters.
In a 4-3 opinion issued Friday morning, Virginia’s Supreme Court sided with the Republican challengers.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts gave Republicans until Thursday evening to respond to Democrats’ request for the emergency appeal.
Spanberger defended the process the General Assembly used, adding: “I think I certainly would have wanted to, and did want to, see a different outcome with the Supreme Court ruling.”
Over three million people participated in the rare April special election, and Spanberger said she’s concerned those voters “have had the experience of casting a ballot in an election that was very important to them, including those on both sides of the referendum vote, only to have it be overturned, essentially, by the Supreme Court of Virginia.”
Elected officials, she said, will have to work to ensure “that people know that their votes do matter, and that when it comes to the ballot they’re going to cast — whether it’s for a primary over the summer or for the general election into the fall — that they shouldn’t feel depleted or defeated, that their votes matter.”
Spanberger called the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court “important, but when it comes to the execution of elections, no matter the outcome in that case, we will be running our elections beginning next month with early voting on the current maps that we have.”
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