Alvin Bragg gets more than 100 threats in the three weeks after Trump’s conviction - more than all of 2023
Manhattan DA faced threats throughout prosecution of Trump which saw former president convicted of 34 felony charges related to hush money payments
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has received more than 100 threats and abusive messages in the weeks since his office finished convicting Donald Trump in the former president’s unprecedented hush money case, more than all the threats the prosecutor received in the previous year.
The threats, analyzed by the DA’s New York Police Department security detail and obtained by the New York Daily News, included messages filled with hateful racial slurs, and ominous comments like “Bragg in Trouble” and a messenger who sent an email from an address named ThisMeansWar.
The volume of aggression far outpaces what Bragg has faced previously, according to court filings. There were 89 threats against the DA in 2023, New York prosecutors disclosed as they sought a gag order in the Trump hush money case, up from just one threat prior to when Trump was indicted.
Throughout the prosecution of Donald Trump, which ended in May, Bragg, who is Black, has received a deluge of threats, many of them racist, including a package sent to his campaign mailbox with a cutout of him hung from a noose.
His office was also sent multiple envelopes with threatening messages and mysterious white powder during the hush money prosecution, including a letter that read, “ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU.”
In February 2023, a Utah man, Craig DeLeeuw, who made violent threats against Joe Biden and Alving Bragg, was killed in a firefight with FBI agents, who were visiting DeLeeuw’s Provo home to serve a search warrant.
DeLeeuw, 74, claimed online he would “be waiting in in the courthouse parking garage with my suppressed Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm,” a silenced gun, for Bragg.
The potential for threats against participants in the hush money prosecution was a key motivator for New York officials to seek a gag order against the former president.
This week, the New York Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s demand to repeal the gag order now that the trial is finished.
During the high-profile case Trump was fined $10,000 for 10 statements posted on Truth Social directed at witnesses and the jury during the trial, and the judge overseeing the trial threatened him with jail if he continued to violate the terms of the order.
Alex Woodward contributed reporting to this story.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments