According to reports, “hundreds” of violent and sexual threats have been made against California Governor Gavin Newsom, his wife, children and businesses, prompting law enforcement agencies to investigate.
Many of the alleged threats via phone, email and social media have arrived at a number of wineries and businesses that the governor started through the PlumpJack Group, a hospitality company he founded in 1992, the Sacramento Bee reported.
“The tone and verbiage of some of these death threats is shocking,” a PlumpJack representative, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, told the paper. “They are very black and white death threats to our employees, to Gavin, his children, his wife.”
Some reports specifically contain violent sexual threats against the governor’s wife, according to a Bee reporter who listened to and read some of the threats.
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Threats have come as Newsom faces a Republican-led recall over his house arrest for the coronavirus and criticism that he dined out at an expensive Napa restaurant while urging state residents to stay home.
Gavin Newsom of California speaks at a press conference in Sacramento, Jan. 8, 2021. (Associated Press)
In one of the threats against a winery, the suspect claimed they wanted to burn down the building while the customers were inside.
A spokesman for Newsom’s Office of Emergency Services said it was aware of the threats and confirmed that several law enforcement agencies were investigating.
FILE – This October 22, 2018 file photo shows the PlumpJack Wine & Spirits store in San Francisco. (AP Photo / Eric Risberg, File)
“Any threat against elected officials, including public or private property, is taken seriously and closely monitored by appropriate local, state or federal law enforcement,” said spokesman Brian Ferguson.
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A false rumor has also circulated online claiming that Newsom PlumpJack paid for coronavirus help through state funds, the Bee reported. The company received nearly $ 3 million in federal aid, but none from California. Newsom also blindly entrusted his companies to avoid the appearance of impropriety when he took office.
Suspicious pipe bomb
Separately, a Napa County man was arrested and charged with a $ 5 million bond last Tuesday after FBI investigators found five “ fully operational ” pipe bombs and planned an illegal stockpile of weapons near his home and business to close Newsom’s offices two weeks ago. to blow. , as well as Facebook and Twitter, prosecutors say.
Ian Benjamin Rogers, 44, of Napa, also had a sticker on his vehicle that was often used by so-called “Three Percenters,” and officers executing search warrants also found a “White Privilege Card” and several gun-related manuals, including some of the The US military, as well as “The Anarchist Cookbook,” a well-known guide to making explosives, said FBI investigators.
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California and other states had called on the National Guard to protect state homes ahead of January 20 inauguration day after the FBI warned of possible violence in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. There were no attacks on Inauguration Day.
Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.