Michigan man arrested over alleged death threats against FBI director Patel

A 42-year-old Michigan man, Anthony Daniel Palazzolo, was arrested on 30 October after allegedly sending death threats to FBI Director Kash Patel and threatening an associate. The case matters amid a reported rise in prosecutions over threats against public officials.

Court documents say Palazzolo sent threatening Facebook messages in October and later told investigators he had sent them, while saying he did not intend to harm anyone. He faces a federal charge of transmitting threatening interstate communications, punishable by up to five years in prison, and is being held pending a detention hearing on 2 November. More than 850 threat-related cases have been prosecuted since 2013, with 133 recorded last year.