Dana Nessel among Michigan officials targeted by ‘heavily armed’ man

41-year-old man arrested for threatening Jewish officials in Michigan

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel addresses the media during a news conference, Thursday, March 5, 2020, in Lansing, Mich. (Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal via AP) (Matthew Dae Smith)

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the FBI confirmed she was one of the targets of a “heavily armed” man who was arrested last month for making threats against Jewish officials in Michigan.

Jack Carpenter III, 41, is accused of making threats against Jewish officials in Michigan. According to documents, Carpenter had three handguns, a 12 gauge shotgun and two hunting rifles, one of which is a military-style weapon.

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“It is my sincere hope that the federal authorities take this offense just as seriously as my Hate Crimes and Domestic Terrorism Unit takes plots to murder elected officials,” Nessel said in a Tweet.

The FBI said Carpenter made threats from Texas using a Twitter account. In a series of tweets, he said “within the next 48 hours I will be back in Michigan.” He also said, “I’m heading back to Michigan now threatening to carry out the punishment of death to anyone that is Jewish in the Michigan govt if they don’t leave, or confess, and now that kind of problem. Because I can Legally do that, right?”

His Twitter posts also indicated he posted a “Declaration of Sovereignty” which claimed a new country was formed in a 9-mile radius around his Tipton home.

The FBI got involved in the case and discovered Carpenter had an unserved Personal Protection Order from Feb. 9, 2023. He had been arrested in December 2022 for assault. A Michigan State Police trooper from the Brighton post said Carpenter was under investigation for the theft of a handgun.

According to court documents, his mother told investigators that she spoke to her son recently and he had requested money to return to Michigan. She told him no and he became angry. He said he would sell some silver and return to Michigan in the next few days.

On the morning of Feb. 18, 2023, he posted this on Twitter: “I’ll be coming back to Michigan, still driving with expired plates. You may want to let everyone know, and Wayne County sheriff as well, any attempt to subdue me will be met with deadly force in self-defense.”

Carpenter has been charged with transmitting an interstate threat. He faces up to five years in prison.

If you are a victim of a hate crime or have information about a hate crime you can contact the Michigan Department of Attorney General at 313-456-0180.

Read more: Man federally charged after allegedly tweeting threats against Michigan officials


About the Author:

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.