An Alabama man who left multiple threatening voicemails for the district attorney and the Fulton County sheriff will spend greater than a yr in federal prison for the crime.

Arthur Ray Hanson II will serve one yr and seven months in prison, spend three years on supervised release and pay a fine of $7,500.

The 59-year-old was charged after calling the Fulton County government customer support hotline last August and leaving two messages – one for District Attorney Fani Willis and the opposite for Sheriff Pat Labat.

These conversations took place after news began to emerge that the county was preparing to drop an indictment against former President Donald Trump and several co-conspirators for election interference.

The Department of Justice reported that in his message to Sheriff Labat, Hanson made the next statements:

• “If you think that you possibly can take an image of my President Trump and all the things will likely be fine, you can find that something bad (expletive) will occur to you after you’re taking that picture.
• “If you’re taking an image of the President and you are the rationale something happened, something bad (expletive) will occur to you.
• “I’m warning you now before you (expletive) ruin your life and get really hurt.”
• “Whether you have a (expletive) badge or not isn’t going to help you”; and “you’re going to throw a (expletive) tantrum, you keep (expletive) arguing with my President.”

In Hanson’s message to District Attorney Willis, he made the next statements:

• “Be careful when you walk to your car at night, when you enter the house, be careful wherever you go.”
• “If I were you, I would be very afraid because you can’t be around people who protect you all the time.”
• “There will be times when you will be vulnerable.”
• “When you’re accusing Trump of the fourth indictment, always look over your shoulder when you’re alone.”
• “Whatever you say there (expletive) comes back to you ten times stronger and never forget it.”

A federal grand jury indicted Hanson in October 2023. He pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting interstate threats in July.

During his guilty plea hearing, he told the judge that he was not a “violent person” and “did not knowingly know that I had threatened anyone.”

“I made a stupid call,” said an insurance salesman from Huntsville, Alabama.

“Threats against government officials are not only illegal, but they also pose a threat to our democratic process,” said Sean Burke, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Atlanta. “The mission of the FBI is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. We take this responsibility very seriously and seek to punish those who engage in this type of criminal behavior and send the message that such behavior will not be tolerated.”

Willis spoke loudly concerning the quite a few death threats she received in the times before and after the indictment of the previous president and greater than a dozen of his allies over election interference in Fulton County.

On the day the costs were announced, Willis secretly left the courthouse in plain clothes and hired a body double to use the important exit of the courthouse where members of the media were waiting.

In a serious endorsement of Kamala Harris on social media, the “Sexy Red” hip-hop star announced Friday that she voted for the Democratic presidential nominee.

During early voting in Missouri, the St. rapper Louis posted photos with the words “I Voted!” stickers as she posed in front of a black SUV, presumably after casting her vote.

“I just voted!!! Don’t tell us what to do with our pussies!! #Kamala4President,” wrote the musician, whose real name is Janae Nierah Wherry.

The statement may come as a surprise to many, as sexy Red has previously expressed support for Republican Party candidate Donald Trump.

In an October 2023 interview, the 26-year-old star said, “I like Trump… they support him in the hood.”

I just voted!!! Don’t tell us what to do with our pussies!! #Kamala4President pic.twitter.com/5rvpa6HzJ8

— Sexy red (@SexyyRed314_) November 1, 2024

“At first I don’t think people gave a shit about him… they thought he was racist and saying little shit, you know, against women” – Sexyy Red on the This Past Weekend podcast. “But when did he start bailing black people out of jail and giving people free money? Oh baby, we love Trump. We must reinstate him.”

The rapper also expressed her admiration for Trump, changing his slogan “Make America Great Again” to her own – “Make America sexyy again.” The MC also showed off a MAGA-like hat during his performance on the 2024 Roots Picnic.

Seemingly following the backlash, Sexy Red later clarified that she had not officially endorsed Trump or any political candidate.

Batchelor continued: “The Vice President’s closing message clearly resonated with the broad coalition we need to engage before the clock runs out on November 5.” He added: “Kamala Harris ran one of the shortest presidential campaigns in the history of American politics, and she has remarkably managed to build a broad coalition of Americans ready to make a difference – even those who may have been skeptical at first. This bodes well for Tuesday’s results.”

Sexy Red’s change of heart about Trump could mean a breakthrough for Vice President Harris, who has been crisscrossing the country in recent weeks and days to succeed in out to undecided and non-voters. A specific concern for the Harris campaign is young voters of color and young black men, although recent polls show the Democratic candidate has managed to shut some gaps.

Kamala Harris has particularly relied on her economic proposals to sway key voters. They include tax breaks for middle-class families, grants for first-time home buyers, foreclosure loans for small business owners and a federal ban on price gouging by firms to lower grocery prices.

During an interview on former NFL star Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast, the vp debunked misconceptions concerning the so-called “stimulus” checks – previously mentioned by “Sexy Red” – that Americans have received while Trump is in office throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

“Really, Congress wrote these checks. But then Donald Trump, unlike any president before or since, decided he was going to put his name on these checks,” said Harris, who noted that Trump initially opposed the stimulus checks.

Harris’ other major point was the specter of a national abortion ban if Donald Trump returns to the White House. On Tuesday, during a serious campaign rally in Washington, D.C., attended by greater than 75,000 people, the vp focused most of his political messages on the economy and reproductive rights.

“(Trump) would ban abortion nationwide, restrict access to contraceptives and put at risk in vitro fertilization treatments, and force states to monitor women’s pregnancies,” Harris warned. “I have lived the promise of America, and I see it in all of you… I see it in the women who refuse to accept a future without reproductive freedom, and in the men who support them.”

As evidenced by Sexy Red’s enthusiastic endorsement of Harris amongst her thousands and thousands of fans, Harris’ message could resonate with voters.

More history

Angela Alsobrooks is running a breakthrough campaign in Maryland’s U.S. Senate race and is poised to make history because the state’s first Black senator if elected. With a distinguished background in public service – she served as Prince George’s County State’s Attorney for eight years before being elected twice as county executive – Alsobrooks now intends to bring her experience to Congress, where she could be one among the few Black women to ever serve in that role.

The latest poll from the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) shows her a robust double-digit lead over her Republican opponent, former Gov. Larry Hogan. In October, Alsobrooks polled with 52% of likely voters, compared to Hogan’s 40%, and Libertarian candidate Mike Scott was polling at lower than 4%. Despite Hogan’s intense promoting campaigns, Alsobrooks’ advantage has continued since September. “The overall margin is about the same,” CDCE Director Michael Hanmer said, as each side give attention to influencing undecided voters in this high-stakes race.

This race could determine party control of the U.S. Senate, making issues like abortion and economic policy more essential than ever. While more Maryland voters now view Hogan because the stronger candidate on economic issues, Alsobrooks has significant benefits on health care and reproductive rights, topics that widely share her views. CDCE data suggests her comments in regards to the Senate’s role in protecting reproductive rights resonated with many citizens in Maryland, something analysts say Hogan struggled to rise up to.

Alsobrooks’ campaign is historically significant: If elected, she would turn out to be Maryland’s first Black female senator and one among the few Black women to serve in the Senate in its 235-yr history. “People like me don’t get to the Senate, and we should,” Alsobrooks emphasized in her speech on the Democratic National Convention in August, calling attention to the systemic barriers Black women face in reaching high political office. “We only chose two [Black women] for the Senate and has only won three seats so far, so it was a joy to get on that stage and represent so many people whose voices I felt were underrepresented in the Senate. And it was a great moment,” she told ESSENCE about her speech.

The historical context is important: Carol Moseley Braun was the primary Black woman elected to the Senate in 1992, followed by Kamala Harris in 2016. In 2023, California’s Laphonza Butler became the third Black woman in the Senate, appointed to finish Dianne Feinstein’s term. he doesn’t intend to run for the complete term. If Alsobrooks is successful, she could join Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, who can also be running for Senate, and together they might potentially transform the Senate with historic levels of black women’s representation.

Alsobooks told ESSENCE that her journey into public service was inspired in part by Kamala Harris, then the district attorney of San Francisco, whom she first examine in a 2009 article. “I read a magazine article about a district attorney using new ideas to keep his community safe,” Alsobrooks recalled. Inspired, she began to incorporate restorative justice principles into her own work, in search of ways to rethink the criminal justice system and expand access to opportunity.

Alsobrooks says he sees his candidacy as a way to effect meaningful change, from economic opportunity to access to health care. Her platform focuses on expanding reproductive rights, access to health care and educational resources for Marylanders. Alsobrooks also supports comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, and has been openly critical of the Trump-era tax cuts, calling for higher corporate tax rates to fund programs for working families fairly than corporate interests.

The stakes remain high for Alsobrooks as she campaigns to represent Maryland and amplify the voices of diverse communities in the Senate. Marylanders will soon make a choice on November 5, setting the course for the state’s future in Washington.