A Florida man has been arrested for threatening former Vice President Kamala Harris and Representative Ilhan Omar, according to law enforcement.
Franklin Jarrell, 59, is charged with one count each of sending a threatening communication in interstate commerce and making threats against a federal official, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in the Middle District of Florida late last month.
The alleged threats were made on TikTok and reported by the FBI to the Secret Service, according to the charging document.
According to federal agents, on February 13, the two agencies shared information about several violent – but unspecified – threats.
The complaint catalogues those comments in a laundry list format:
•”I got your IP numbers that means I have your address so when I come for you you’ll never see it coming stank booty”‘
• “I’m coming to kill you and you won’t worry about wearing a wranglers no more looking to put you in pajamas look at your teeth you’re as big as a godd––– crocodile you were mine I’m going to blow your”
• “I’m going to blow your brains out you won’t go back home not unless you’re in the box you’ll never see me coming we’re real rednecks not want to be n–––––– or whatever you are we’re going to kill you”
According to the complaint, no one was targeted by these threats. They were allegedly posted by a user account associated with Jarrell on February 11 and 12, according to federal agents. When the Secret Service received those amorphous outbursts, it allegedly discovered threatening comments with specific targets.
On Feb. 11, in response to a video “regarding” Harris, the same TikTok user allegedly posted: “[I]f she is an n—— she don’t even know what she is she’s one b—- I will take a sniper rifle and blow her head off like they’re trying to do with Trump f— her,” according to the complaint.
That same day, the following comments were allegedly posted in response to a video about Omar: “I want to take them glasses off her head and shove them up her a– come South we will kill your a– nappy head” and “I can’t stand m———— like that and I don’t give a f what anybody thinks bring your a– down to Jacksonville Florida and we will kill your a– we don’t play come down south nappy head.”
On Valentine’s Day, local law enforcement linked the TikTok user’s email account to a phone number that appeared to belong to the defendant or someone with a strikingly similar name, according to the complaint.
On February 18, a Secret Service agent called the defendant and inquired about his TikTok account and an alleged threat to “blow Kamala Harris’ head off with a sniper rifle.”
Jarrell allegedly confirmed his TikTok account, except for the number at the end of his handle, according to the complaint. When the agent mentioned Harris, the defendant allegedly called her a “nappy headed n—–.”
“I recognized this type of verbiage as the same type of rhetoric that the TikTok user posted,” the Secret Service agent stated.
The conversation allegedly deteriorated quickly after that.
The complaint recounts in length:
I then asked JARRELL if he would be willing to meet in person for an interview regarding this threat. At this time, JARRELL became verbally aggressive and stated he would “kick my a––,” and if I “came to his home” I “would never leave.” I asked him what he meant by his statement and he said that he had a house “full of guns” and “I would find out.” JARRELL said he could say “whatever he wanted” because of his “First Amendment Right.” I advised JARELL that his right to freedom of speech did not include terroristic threats, and that threating [sic] to kill the former Vice President was a federal crime. JARRELL’s tone became more irate, and he threatened to kick my front teeth in if I came to his house. He again stated he had a house full of weapons and I would never “make it past his fence line” if I showed up. He then terminated the call.
According to the complaint, from just before noon to just after 4:45 p.m., the defendant’s phone number called the federal agent back 25 times. Overall, 21 voicemails were left on the agent’s voicemail.
The complaint goes on to include transcripts from only a few of those voicemails, according to the Secret Service. The language is becoming more violent, bigoted, and graphic.
“He’s a frog with no –,” the defendant allegedly screamed in one of the voicemails. “That motherf——, I’d knock out his teeth. Come.”
Local law enforcement later made contact with the owner of the Jacksonville residence associated with the phone number in question. That individual was identified as Franklin Jarrell Sr. The elder Jarrell was then turned over to a federal investigator.
This development appears to have exacerbated the situation.
Again, the complaint is lengthy:
He stated that his son had a drinking problem and hated the former Vice President for reasons he did not understand. I asked Mr. Jarrell if he could speak with his son and attempt to calm him down so I could interview him. Mr. Jarrell stated he would speak with his son and attempt to deescalate the situation. Approximately five minutes later, I received another call from JARRELL. I answered the call, hoping his father had calmed him down. JARRELL began yelling at me, saying if I ever talked to his father again, that he would “kick my teeth in.” He then terminated the call.
The defendant was arrested later on the night of Feb. 18, according to the complaint. He is currently being detained on $100,000 bond.
