A 33-year-old Roseville woman and a 61-year-old Lake Orion man are facing terrorism charges after Michigan authorities say they separately threatened to kill some of the state's most prominent public officials, including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Supreme Court. Alicia Choucair and Anthony DeKinderen were arraigned on terrorism-related counts last week in two unrelated cases involving separate threats against elected officials in Michigan.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Choucair allegedly called a local dispatch center to threaten violence against a mosque and against Hammoud, reportedly warning that violence would occur if “your people” were not kept out of her town, an allegation attributed to the Michigan Attorney General's office. She was arraigned in Dearborn District Court on September 17 and faces two counts of false report or threat of terrorism, each carrying up to 20 years in prison, along with a charge of using a computer to commit a crime, also punishable by up to 20 years, and a hate crime charge carrying a two-year term. Her bond was set at $20,000, and she is scheduled for a probable cause hearing on September 30.
A Separate Case Targets Whitmer and the State's Top Court
In the second case, DeKinderen allegedly emailed a Michigan-based journalist threats to kill Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the Michigan Supreme Court, per the Michigan Attorney General's office. DeKinderen was arraigned Saturday in 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills, where a judge set his bond at $5 million and ordered him to wear an electronic tether. He is due back in court on September 28. He faces nine felony counts, each carrying up to 20 years in prison, while Choucair faces four felony counts in Dearborn, the attorney general's office said.
Attorney General Dana Nessel said the state takes threats of violence seriously and will prosecute the cases to the fullest extent of the law, adding that hate crimes and threats of terrorism against officials at all levels of government are becoming increasingly common. The Department of Attorney General's Hate Crimes and Domestic Terrorism Unit was created by Nessel in 2019 to coordinate state and federal investigations into bias-motivated crimes and threats against public servants. The unit got a new leader in May, when Assistant Attorney General Nimish R. Ganatra was appointed to head it, a move the department announced in a release.
Legal Hurdles Facing Terrorism Prosecutions
Michigan's anti-terrorism statute, MCL 750.543m, allows for up to 20 years in prison for making a threat of terrorism. That same appellate court also overturned terrorism convictions this summer for members of the Wolverine Watchmen militia involved in the 2020 plot to kidnap Whitmer, ruling that kidnapping did not qualify as an underlying violent felony under the state's anti-terrorism act, a decision Nessel has vowed to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Hammoud Has Faced Threats Before
This is not the first time Hammoud has been targeted. In April, Dearborn police arrested a Detroit man accused of threatening to assassinate the mayor, prompting Hammoud to publicly insist the threats would not derail his civic agenda, Hoodline reported at the time. In August, a federal grand jury indicted 54-year-old James Lawhorn of Wasilla, Alaska, on seven counts of interstate threats and one count of stalking after he allegedly sent more than 20 violent, anti-Muslim messages to Hammoud, including calls for the mayor and his family to be executed by hanging or firing squad, according to ArabAmericanNews.
Other Michigan officials have faced threats before: in December 2020, dozens of armed protesters gathered outside Benson's Detroit residence while she was home with her 4-year-old son, using megaphones to demand the reversal of certified election results, according to CBS News.
Earlier Threats Against Michigan Officials
Michigan officials have faced threats before.
Michigan residents serve the public through elected offices ranging from local mayoral posts to statewide positions, and officials say the two new cases underscore the stakes as threats against them continue to mount. The attorney general's office detailed both cases in a news release issued Monday, as the Choucair and DeKinderen prosecutions move toward their next court dates later this month.
