Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the FBI has confirmed that she was the target of a plot to kill Jewish officials in the state after a man was arrested in connection with the plot.
“The FBI has confirmed I was a target of the heavily armed defendant in this matter,” Nessel said on Twitter, in reference to a recently revealed arrest by federal officials, who say the man they arrested was plotting to kill Jewish figures in the Michigan state government.
Jack Eugene Carpenter III, who was arrested in mid-February, made threats on Twitter to kill Jewish members of the Michigan state government, according to the FBI’s affidavit. The document also says that Carpenter threatened to use “deadly force” if police pulled him over for his expired license plates. The FBI also said it was believed that Carpenter owned a number of firearms, including handguns, shotguns and rifles.
The Twitter account that the FBI said is connected to Carpenter claims he was fired from the University of Michigan for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine. The university has around 6,500 Jewish students, according to Hillel International.
The alleged plot to kill Jewish leaders in Michigan comes after a highly-publicized plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) in 2020, which was thwarted by federal authorities. In late 2022, three men connected to the plot were convicted of all charges, which was seen as a considerable legal victory for state prosecutors.
Nessel made reference to the Whitmer case, saying she hopes federal authorities will take the threats to kill her as seriously as state officials took the plot to harm Whitmer.
“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,” she said on Twitter.