Donald Trump’s criminal indictments in New York and Miami sparked a barrage of threats from his extremist supporters and alleged Russian hackers including bomb threats, protest plans and other forms of violence, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg News.
None of the threats materialized, but the 85 pages obtained under the Freedom of Information Act provide a behind-the-scenes look at how federal agents responded to the threats.
Such activity is likely to continue as Trump faces another state indictment in Georgia and as federal probes continue into his efforts to overturn the election and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. A pre-trial hearing before the judge presiding over the criminal case over his mishandling of classified documents is scheduled for Tuesday in Fort Pierce, Florida.
The pages of emails from the Federal Protective Service say that the threats began after a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump over his hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. An FPS officer wrote in an email that bomb threats to critical infrastructure in NYC all traced back to “IP addresses in Russia.”
No other details on the Russian involvement were included, but Russian hackers have interfered in numerous US elections and often make social media posts to benefit Trump.
Officers with the FPS, a Department of Homeland Security agency tasked with guarding US government facilities, also combed social media and flagged posts they said were written by domestic violent extremists who were planning protests and threatening to gun down federal officials in retaliation over Trump’s indictments.
The FPS documents said a bomb threat was phoned in to the Wilkie D. Ferguson Courthouse in Miami on the day of Trump’s arraignment June 13. “The caller stated that there was a bomb placed in the first floor bathroom. However, there is no bathroom on the first floor and the threat is believed to be a hoax,” according to an email an officer sent to FPS Director Richard Cline. Still, FPS officers swept the facility to be sure.
The social media rhetoric included antisemitic statements and calls for civil war. The documents went on to say that the FBI was in a “heightened state of alert at field offices” in Miami and Washington, following threats they received.
“Last I heard, it’s open season for fed hunting. We need to start killing these traitorous” people, one person wrote on social media.
FPS officers spent a week in Miami working with the US Secret Service, the US Marshals Service and Miami police and fire departments to prepare for Trump’s arraignment and the potential for violence. According to the documents, FPS’s Investigations Division “has collaborated with numerous agencies on individuals threatening government officials and facilities in support of” Trump.
FPS officers said the number of protesters who rallied in support of Trump and counter-protesters had peaked at 1,000 and there were more than 400 members of the media who attended the arraignment.