US: Georgia investigates threats against Donald Trump grand jury members identified online
Donald Trump
Officials in the US state of Georgia are investigating online threats made against members of the grand jury that indicted former United States President Donald Trump’s alleged election interference investigation, on Monday. This comes after personal information including, names and addresses of grand jury members were posted online, said the local sheriff’s office.
What happened?
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, on Thursday (August 17) said that they are working on tracking the origins of threats against grand jury members who, earlier this week, indicted Trump on 13 charges, which included racketeering and election meddling.
This comes after personal information, including addresses and photos of the jurors, were reportedly shared on right-wing platforms. Officials in Fulton County, which also includes Atlanta, the state capital, said threats could amount to jury intimidation.
“Our investigators are working closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to track down the origin of threats in Fulton County and other jurisdictions,” said the sheriff’s office, in a statement.
It added, “We take this matter very seriously and are coordinating with our law enforcement partners to respond quickly to any credible threat and to ensure the safety of those individuals who carried out their civic duty.”
Whose information was supposedly leaked?
The posts that purportedly share names and addresses of the Fulton County grand jury are being tracked by Advance Democracy, a non-profit research organisation whose president, Dan Jones, a former FBI investigator and a part of the Senate intelligence committee told Reuters, “Statements by Trump and his allies continue to inspire violent language and threats online.”
According to the group, two NBC reporters who wrote about the grand jury incident also had their purported addresses posted online, reported Reuters.
The organisation has also reportedly tracked posts containing violent rhetoric against the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis who oversaw the over two-year investigation regarding the alleged efforts made by Trump and 18 others to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The group has also called on the Fulton County police to take the matter “seriously”.
“The latest threats against jury members shows you don’t have to be a politician or government official to be the target,” said Jones. He added, “Equally important is that political leaders on the right denounce these threats and the statements that inspire them.”
Trump’s case in Georgia
In a recent update about the case, lawyers for Trump on Thursday (August 17) asked a federal judge in Washington to schedule an April 2026 trial for the former president regarding the federal charges against his alleged attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Earlier this month after the indictment by the US Special Counsel Jack Smith against Trump, the former president lashed out on his social media platform, Truth Social, and said “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
The 98-page Georgia indictment on Monday listed 19 defendants and 41 criminal counts and while the document is available as a public record and does include the names of grand jurors but not their addresses or any other personally identifiable information.
(With inputs from agencies)
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