FBI arrests man who threatened to kill Dana Nessel, other elected Jewish officials
(FOX 2) - The FBI has arrested a man who threatened to kill state Attorney General Dana Nessel and other Jewish officials elected in Michigan.
Jack Carpenter III, a resident of Tipton, Michigan, was arrested after a Feb. 17 tweet that he was "heading back to Michigan now threatening to carry out the punishment of death to anyone that is Jewish in the Michigan govt if they don’t leave, or confess."
Carpenter allegedly used the Twitter handle "TemperedReason" to make threats against elected officials, saying he was going to kill them.
He's been charged with transmitting an interstate threat since he was living in Texas at the time of the tweets.
Thursday morning, Nessel tweeted "The FBI has confirmed I was a target of the heavily armed defendant in this matter. It is my sincere hope that the federal authorities take this offense just as seriously as my Hate Crimes & Domestic Terrorism Unit takes plots to murder elected officials."
Carpenter's arrest came after the FBI in Detroit were made aware of information concerning threats to kill Jewish government officials. Screenshots of a conversation the account connected to him were used as probable cause for opening the investigation.
Among the messages he sent included references to a new country named "New Israel" which had been formed in Tipton, Michigan, which is located in Lenawee County.
Federal officials identified Carpenter as individual linked to that address. Other information included an unserved Personal Protection Order against him and a previous arrest by Michigan State Police for an assault that happened in December 2022.
When FBI contacted MSP, they learned state troopers had already been investigating Carpenter for stealing a Smith and Wesson handgun.
After getting in touch with the suspect's mom, police learned Carpenter was planning to return to Michigan for a few days after staying in Texas. Around the same time, he tweeted "I'll be coming back to Michigan, still driving with expired plates. You may want to let everyone know, and Wayne County sheriff as well, any attempt to subdue me will be met with deadly force in self-defense."
Carpenter's mom said her son had three handguns, a 12 gauge shotgun, and two hunting rifles.
State police did manage to contact Carpenter before he was arrested regarding the stolen handgun. He admitted to taking the weapon, but told police the state of Michigan didn't have authority over him.