ELLIS COUNTY, Texas — A man was arrested in North Texas on Feb. 18 after allegedly plotting to kill the Michigan attorney general, the FBI confirmed to WFAA.
Court documents allege that Jack Carpenter III used the Twitter handle @TemperedReason to lodge his threats against Michigan state officials who are Jewish, including Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Nessel tweeted about the February arrest on Thursday:
"The FBI has confirmed I was a target of the heavily armed defendant in this matter. It is my sincere hope that the federal authorities take this offense just as seriously as my Hate Crimes & Domestic Terrorism Unit takes plots to murder elected officials."
The FBI told WFAA that Carpenter was arrested in Granbury, Texas. The arrest came one day after Carpenter allegedly tweeted about carrying out the attack.
"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," Carpenter allegedly wrote on Twitter on Feb. 17. "Because I can Legally do that, right?"
Court documents also stated that Carpenter claimed "new Israel" was located in a nine-mile radius of Tipton, Michigan, where he lived.
WFAA sister station WZZM reported that Carpenter appeared in federal court in Detroit on Wednesday on a charge of using interstate communications to make a threat and remained in custody until a detention hearing Friday. Prosecutors want to keep him locked up while the case is pending.
"When the defendant was arrested in his vehicle, they found approximately a half dozen firearms and ammunition," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Moon, who added that Carpenter might flee if released on bond.
According to the court documents, Carpenter requested money from his mother to return to Michigan but became angry that she wouldn't give it to him and then she called the police.
Carpenter's mother told police, "CARPENTER has three handguns, a 12 gauge shotgun, and two hunting rifles, one of which is an MIA, military style weapon," according to the document.
Here is the full text of the criminal complaint:
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