A California man has been indicted on charges of sending death threats to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her prosecution of former President Donald Trump, the Department of Justice said Friday.
Marc Shultz, 66, of Chula Vista, California, allegedly posted multiple comments to two separate YouTube livestream videos in early October 2023, threatening Ms. Willis with violence and murder.
His comments included a statement saying that Ms. Willis “will be killed like a dog,” according to U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan, the indictment, and other information presented in court, the DOJ said in a press release.
“Sending death threats to a public official is a criminal offense that will not be tolerated,” Mr. Buchanan said in a statement.
“Our office will continue to diligently coordinate with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to help protect public officials while performing their duties and who deserve to do so free from threats of harm and intimidation,” he added.
Mr. Shultz was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 24. He made his initial appearance in federal court in San Diego, California, on May 2 and will be arraigned in Atlanta in June.
The DOJ stated that his case is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, emphasized that “threats against any individual, credible or not, is a very serious crime that the FBI will not tolerate.”
“Threats of violence against government officials, specifically, threaten the very fabric of our democracy,” she said. “We want everyone to know that if you engage in such behavior, you will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Alabama Man Faced Similar Charges Last Year
In October last year, an Alabama man was charged with threatening to injure Ms. Willis and Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat because of their connections to the case against President Trump.Arthur Ray Hanson II, 59, allegedly called the Fulton County Government customer services line in August 2023 and left two voicemails—the first for Mr. Labat and the second for Ms. Willis—threatening violence against the officials.
Mr. Hanson said in one of his messages for Mr. Labat: “If you think you gonna take a mugshot of my President Donald Trump and it’s gonna be ok, you gonna find out that after you take that mugshot, some bad [expletive]’s probably gonna happen to you.”
One of his messages to Ms. Willis said: “When you charge Trump on that fourth indictment, anytime you’re alone, be looking over your shoulder.”
Mr. Hanson was indicted on Oct. 25, 2023. He made his initial appearance in federal court in Huntsville and was arraigned in Atlanta on Nov. 13, 2023, according to the DOJ.
