A Michigan man has been arrested and charged with threatening to kill FBI Director Kash Patel and one of his associates, federal prosecutors announced.
Anthony Daniel Palazzolo, 42, of Chesterfield Township, was taken into custody Friday, Oct. 30, and charged with one count of interstate communications involving threats, a felony that carries up to five years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
According to the criminal complaint, Palazzolo sent a Facebook message on Oct. 8 to an unidentified associate of Patel, identified in court documents only as Victim-1. In the message, Palazzolo allegedly claimed he had “put a hit out” on the associate and declared that Patel was a dead man too, using a crude expletive to describe the FBI director.
Prosecutors said Palazzolo referred to himself as “Baby Bird” in the messages. It remains unclear who Patel’s associate is.
Investigators questioned Palazzolo in early October. During that interview, according to an FBI special agent’s sworn statement, he said he wanted to discuss his belief that the government was violating his property rights.
“Palazzolo admitted to sending the threatening message…and apologized stating he had no intent to harm anyone,” the agent wrote in the complaint.
Before investigators left, an FBI task force officer gave Palazzolo his cellphone number and government email address.
But the harassment didn’t stop there, authorities say.
Prosecutors allege Palazzolo went on to send the officer messages that included threats of sexual violence against a government official. The following day, he allegedly called the officer and left two voicemails, threatening to come to the FBI office and use “deadly force” against federal officials, warning that FBI and Secret Service personnel would be killed.
The FBI said Palazzolo has a lengthy criminal history in Michigan, Texas and Florida, including a 2018 charge for falsely reporting a terrorist threat and another case involving a bogus bomb threat.
Palazzolo appeared in federal court Friday afternoon and was temporarily detained. A detention hearing has been scheduled for Monday, Nov. 2.
The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. and is being investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eaton Brown is prosecuting the case. As with all criminal cases, a complaint is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The arrest is the latest in a string of threats targeting Patel and those close to him since he took the helm of the bureau.
In March, a Massachusetts man, Alden Welch Ruml, was arrested and charged with sending a threatening email to Patel’s fiancée, Alexis Wilkins. Ruml allegedly became upset over a news article about Patel using FBI resources to provide security for Wilkins, and he reportedly took issue with the couple’s conservative views and ties to the MAGA movement.
The email allegedly warned Wilkins to “watch your back.”
Ruml faces the same felony charge of interstate communications involving threats. He has pleaded not guilty, and a jury trial is set for February.
The threats against Patel come amid a broader wave of threats against public officials. Earlier this month, law enforcement arrested two men who separately made death threats against Reps. Keith Self, R-Texas, and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
“My family and I are safe, and I remain focused on serving the people of Texas’ 3rd District,” Self said following the arrest.
