A man from Florida has been taken into custody for allegedly issuing threats against former Vice President Kamala Harris and Representative Ilhan Omar, as per law enforcement reports. Franklin Jarrell, 59, is facing charges of sending a threatening communication in interstate commerce and making threats against a federal official, as per a federal criminal complaint filed in the Middle District of Florida.
The alleged threats were reportedly made on the social media platform TikTok and were brought to the attention of the Secret Service by the FBI. On February 13, the two agencies shared information about several violent, albeit vague, threats. The complaint lists these comments, which were allegedly posted by a user account linked to Jarrell on February 11 and 12.
Upon receiving these threats, the Secret Service reportedly discovered threatening comments with specific targets. On February 11, in response to a video about Harris, the same TikTok user allegedly posted a threatening comment. That same day, comments were allegedly posted in response to a video about Omar.
On Valentine’s Day, local law enforcement linked the TikTok user’s email account to a phone number believed to belong to the defendant. On February 18, a Secret Service agent contacted the defendant to inquire about his TikTok account and an alleged threat to Harris. Jarrell allegedly confirmed his TikTok account, and when the agent mentioned Harris, the defendant allegedly used derogatory language.
The conversation reportedly quickly devolved. The complaint details that Jarrell became verbally aggressive, threatened the agent, and claimed his right to freedom of speech allowed him to say whatever he wanted. The agent informed Jarrell that his right to freedom of speech did not include terroristic threats and that threatening to kill the former Vice President was a federal crime.
Later that day, the defendant’s number called the federal agent back 25 times, leaving 21 voicemails. The complaint cites transcripts from a few of these voicemails, which were increasingly violent and bigoted.
Local law enforcement later contacted the owner of the Jacksonville residence linked to the phone number. The man was identified as Franklin Jarrell Sr., who was then referred to the federal investigator. The defendant was arrested later on the night of February 18 and is currently being held on a $100,000 bond.