Federal agents arrested a Macomb County man on Friday on a charge that he threatened to kill FBI Director Kash Patel and one of Patel's associates, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced. Anthony Daniel Palazzolo, 42, of Chesterfield Township, is charged with one count of interstate communications involving threats, a felony that carries up to five years in federal prison.
Prosecutors say the case began with a Facebook message. On Oct. 8, according to the criminal complaint, Palazzolo wrote to an associate of Patel that he had "put a hit out" on that person and that Patel was a "dead mf too." Authorities have not named the associate.
Investigators questioned Palazzolo in early October. An FBI special agent wrote in the complaint that Palazzolo admitted sending the threatening message and apologized, "stating he had no intent to harm anyone."
The government says the contact did not stop there. After that interview, the complaint alleges, Palazzolo continued to harass a Detroit FBI agent by phone and threatened to come to the bureau's office and "use deadly force against every single one of you government officials." Another message, which also went to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Secret Service and a federal court in Texas, threatened sexual violence against a government official, according to the complaint.
Palazzolo appeared in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Friday afternoon and was detained. He is due back in court for a detention hearing on Nov. 2. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eaton Brown is prosecuting the case.
Palazzolo's court-appointed lawyer, Todd Shanker, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment from The Detroit News. The accusations against him are allegations in a criminal complaint and have not been proven in court.
The case joins a rising number of federal prosecutions over threats against politicians and government officials. Research by the University of Nebraska Omaha's National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center and Chapman University has counted more than 850 threat-related cases filed nationally since 2013, including a record 133 last year, and this year's total is on pace to pass that mark.
Earlier this month, law enforcement arrested two men in separate cases involving death threats against Rep. Keith Self, a Texas Republican, and Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat. Many lawmakers have also reported suspicious packages containing white powder delivered to their district and state offices ahead of the midterm elections.