For the third time in recent weeks, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has rejected the Attorney’s Office’s attempt to criminally indict a person accused of making threats against an official – the latest sign of pushback from residents in the city overtaken by federal law enforcement.
This time, a grand jury declined to bring felony charges against Nathalie Rose Jones, a woman accused of making threats against President Donald Trump online and directly to Secret Service agents.
According to a complaint, Jones, a 49-year-old resident of New York, posted on social media, labeling Trump a “terrorist” and calling the administration a “dictatorship” in early August.
Days later, while in D.C. to attend a march, Jones agreed to an interview with the Secret Service, in which she called Trump a “nazi” and said she would kill the president to “avenge” the lives lost during the pandemic if necessary. However, she clarified that she did not have the present desire to harm Trump.
In letters to the judge, longtime friends of Jones said she had a history of mental health issues.
Jones was arrested, and prosecutors in the nation’s capital, led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, sought to bring charges of making threats against the president and transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce.
But a grand jury declined to bring the indictment, lawyers for Jones said in a court filing on Monday.
“A grand jury has now found no probable cause to indict Ms. Jones on the charged offenses,” the public defenders wrote while seeking to have Jones released from home detention.
The Independent has asked the US Attorney’s Office in D.C. for comment.
Grand jurors typically return indictments against criminal defendants because jurors only hear information from prosecutors. It’s rare for a grand jury to be summoned and choose not to return an indictment.
But the latest rejection by a grand jury in the nation’s capital is part of a trend.
Last week, a panel of D.C. residents declined to bring a felony indictment against the man who flung a sub-style sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol agent. In August, a grand jury refused to bring criminal charges against a man who tried to physically resist arrest.
Tensions in D.C. have been high since Trump declared a “crime emergency” and began deploying federal law enforcement, including the National Guard, around the city.
In an attempt to deter residents from harassing officers, the administration has taken a harsh approach to charging people with federal crimes who resist arrest or engage in any form of physical contact with officers.
“If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said last month.
But Pirro’s office has struggled to bring serious charges against individuals.
Prosecutors can choose to seek a new indictment against an individual if a grand jury does not. They can also downgrade the charges to a misdemeanor, which does not require a grand jury.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to The Hill that “any threat to the President’s life should be taken incredibly seriously – now more than ever, considering President Trump has survived not one, but two attempts on his life.”
It’s unclear what prosecutors will do with Jones’s case.
