Grand jurors in Georgia Trump case face threats, racist attacks

Grand jurors who voted to indict former President Trump in Georgia earlier this week are facing threats and a profusion of racist comments online.

The jurors’ names were listed publicly within the indictment, as required under Georgia law. A review of social media platforms and far-right forums found users posting numerous racial slurs and even the jurors’ addresses.

“Everyone on that jury should be hung,” one user wrote on a right-wing online forum. 

On a different far-right site, the purported addresses of all 23 grand jurors tapped to serve in Trump’s case were posted in full. 

“MAGAs posting the grand jurors addresses online,” a Truth Social user wrote. “I see a swift bullet to the head if, and when, somebody shows up at their homes.”

The existence of the threats was first reported by NBC News.

A spokesperson for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said the department is aware of threats against the grand jury members and is working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to track down their origins. 

“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,” Natalie Ammons, communications director for the sheriff’s office, said in a statement. 

The threats were not only made on far-right platforms but also surfaced on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Awful nice car you have there…hate to see something happen to it,” one user wrote on X early Wednesday morning, referencing the grand jury foreperson by name.

Others on X posted grand jurors’ social media profiles and their professional websites. 

The grand jurors voted Monday to indict Trump and 18 co-defendants on a combined 41 charges. All 19 defendants are accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act — a law that was originally created to combat organized crime. 

Prosecutors say the former president and his co-defendants plotted to overturn the state’s 2020 election results in an effort to keep Trump in the White House. 

Ever since the grand jurors’ names were made public late Monday night, when the charges were filed, they have been repeatedly attacked online.

On one platform, a user made a post urging others to not post names of the grand jurors, warning it was a set up.

“Maybe something unfortunate NEEDS TO FN HAPPEN,” one user responded.

Another user said “if you do,” make sure to wear Antifa clothing and load the Democratic National Committee on speed-dial. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) and Che Alexander, the Fulton County courts clerk, have also faced an onslaught of violent and racist threats in right-wing forums and on social media. 

Trump himself has not posted the names of the grand jurors, but he has repeatedly attacked Willis and the charges in recent days.

The former president has also taken aim at the judges and prosecutors presiding over his other three criminal cases, including special counsel Jack Smith, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

A Texas woman was charged with threatening Chutkan, who is overseeing Trump’s federal case stemming from his efforts to remain in power, in a voicemail just after Trump’s indictment. The charge was first reported by Bloomberg.

Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, told The Hill that the potential for online threats to escalate to real-world violence is significant. 

“The unfortunate reality is that, as we’ve seen time and time again, when the right-wing media ecosystem focuses on a target, online rhetoric quickly devolves into threats of violence,” Lewis said.

—Updated at 2:36 p.m.