Michigan man charged with threatening to kill FBI Director Kash Patel

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A Michigan man was arrested Friday and charged with making threats against FBI Director Kash Patel, federal prosecutors announced.

Anthony Daniel Palazzolo, 42, of Chesterfield Township, is accused of writing Facebook messages threatening to kill Patel and an associate earlier in October, according to the office of US Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. of the Eastern District of Michigan. Palazzolo is charged with interstate communications involving threats, court records show.

It is unclear who Patel’s associate is, though prosecutors included what they said were screenshots of redacted messages sent by Palazzolo, who refers to himself as Baby Bird in the message. Palazzolo is accused of messaging the unidentified Patel associate on October 8, “i put a hit on you” and Patel is “a dead mf too.”

Federal investigators used his Facebook and TikTok accounts to trace him to a residential address in Chesterfield Township, located about 30 miles north of Detroit, according to the criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Brian Koczenasz. FBI agents went to his home on October 9 to interview him.

The complaint said Palazzolo wanted to talk about his belief the government was violating his property rights. He admitted to sending the message to the associate and Patel and apologized, saying he had no intent to harm anyone, the complaint stated. He also told FBI agents he had contacted several federal law enforcement agencies to complain about what he saw as an insufficient response to his concerns, the complaint said.

Before leaving, one FBI Task Force officer provided Palazzolo with his cellphone number and government email address, the complaint said. On October 12, Palazzolo emailed the officer, as well as a district court in Texas, the Secret Service and the Supreme Court with threats of sexual violence, according to the complaint. The next day, he called the officer, leaving two voicemails threatening to “use deadly force” on federal officials, the complaint said.

The FBI referred questions about the case to the US Attorney’s Office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The defense attorney appointed to represent Palazzolo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Palazzolo appeared in federal court in Michigan on Friday before Magistrate Judge David R. Grand, who ordered Palazzolo be temporarily detained. Palazzolo has a detention hearing set for Monday, court records show. Palazzolo did not enter a plea.

A Massachusetts man was arrested and charged in March with sending a threatening email to Patel’s fiancee, Alexis Wilkins, the previous month. Like Palazzolo, defendant Alden Welch Ruml faces a charge of interstate communications involving threats, a felony. He pleaded not guilty and has a jury trial set for February, court records show.

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联邦检察官周五宣布，一名密歇根州男子因涉嫌威胁联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔而被捕并被起诉。

据美国密歇根州东区检察官杰罗姆·F·戈尔贡办公室称，现年42岁、居住在切斯特菲尔德镇的安东尼·丹尼尔·帕拉佐洛被控于10月初在Facebook上发布信息，威胁要杀害帕特尔及其一名同伙。法庭记录显示，帕拉佐洛被控跨州进行威胁通信。

目前尚不清楚帕特尔的同伙是谁，但检方提供了据称是帕拉佐洛发送的经过删减信息的截图，帕拉佐洛在信息中自称“小鸟”。帕拉佐洛被控于10月8日向帕特尔的一名身份不明的同伙发送信息，内容为“我雇人干掉你”，并称帕特尔“也死定了”。

根据联邦调查局特工布莱恩·科岑纳什提交的刑事诉状，联邦调查人员利用他的Facebook和TikTok账户追踪到他位于切斯特菲尔德镇的一处住宅地址，该镇位于底特律以北约30英里处。联邦调查局特工于10月9日前往他的住所对他进行讯问。

起诉书称，帕拉佐洛想表达他认为政府侵犯其财产权的观点。他承认向其同事和帕特尔发送了信息，并道歉，称自己无意伤害任何人。起诉书还称，他告诉联邦调查局探员，他曾联系多个联邦执法机构，投诉他们认为政府对其诉求的回应不足。

起诉书称，一名联邦调查局特遣队警官在离开前向帕拉佐洛提供了他的手机号码和政府邮箱地址。起诉书还称，10月12日，帕拉佐洛向这名警官、德克萨斯州地方法院、特勤局和最高法院发送了包含性暴力威胁的电子邮件。第二天，他致电这名警官，留下两条语音留言，威胁要对联邦官员“使用致命武力”。

联邦调查局将有关此案的问题转给了美国检察官办公室，后者尚未对此事作出回应。被指派为帕拉佐洛辩护的律师也尚未对此事作出回应。

帕拉佐洛周五在密歇根州联邦法院出庭，法官戴维·R·格兰德下令暂时拘留帕拉佐洛。法庭记录显示，帕拉佐洛的拘留听证会定于周一举行。帕拉佐洛没有认罪。

今年三月，一名马萨诸塞州男子因涉嫌于上个月向帕特尔的未婚妻亚历克西斯·威尔金斯发送威胁邮件而被捕并被起诉。与帕拉佐洛一样，被告阿尔登·韦尔奇·鲁姆也面临跨州通信威胁的指控，这是一项重罪。法庭记录显示，他拒不不认罪，陪审团审判定于二月进行。