A “rage fueled” Manhattan man made death threats against a slew of cable news journalists and politicians in a series of social media rants that included him ripping former President Donald Trump’s supporters as cop-killers, federal prosecutors and the NYPD said Friday.
Rickey Johnson, 47 — who the feds say also used the name Nigel Dawn Defarren as he posted from an account linked to a Manhattan apartment address — was arrested Thursday night on charges of making threatening interstate communications and of threatening a US official.
Officials said Johnson’s victims included a state governor, a US senator, a member of the House of Representatives, a former speaker of the House and four cable news broadcasters.
The politicians who received death threats represent states other than New York, court paperwork said.
“You all kill police officers,” Johnson railed against unnamed cable news broadcasters in a December live Instagram post, said the feds, who described his comments as “rage fueled.”
“Donald Trump supporters kill police officers … You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m gonna kill you.”
On Feb. 4, Johnson posted to his Instagram a video depicting a television news interview involving the unnamed senator, who he said “will be executed.”
“I’m killin’ they ass, you think I’m jokin’, and you gonna know I f—in’ did it,” he said of the pol as the news clip rolled, according to the complaint against him.
“You will be held accountable,” the feds said he ranted about one cable news personality in December. “You do not belong on television. You want a trash government that is now the leading cause of death in America to continue to kill Americans.”
About another cable news broadcaster, Johnson allegedly ranted on Instagram, “I’m going to look you in your f—ing eye and I’m gonna take your f—in’ life, and everyone that knows I took your life is gonna know why.”
Also on Feb. 4, alongside footage of interviews of the congressperson and governor this rant: “Ma’am, you are dead. Make sure we understand one another. You are dead … Smile. I am going to kill you.”
That same day, he called one of the broadcasters “a racist domestic terrorist,” and the governor “a domestic terrorist” who “will be killed in the name of the United States Constitution.”
Johnson is due to appear before United States Magistrate Gabriel W. Gorenstein in Manhattan federal court on Friday.
He faces a maximum of 10 years prison on the top charge of threatening US officials.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Rickey Johnson allegedly threatened to kill several cable news broadcasters and current and former U.S. Senators and members of the House in rage-fueled posts on Instagram and in chilling private messages.
“Among the many great freedoms Americans enjoy is the right to engage in political discourse, and disagreements are natural and healthy; but when invective metastasizes into threats of harm or even death, law enforcement will act swiftly to bring the person responsible to justice.”
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said: “Rickey Johnson, as alleged in this federal complaint, took aim at the foundations of our shared democracy and way of life, threatening not only elected United States officials but several working journalists.
“From the earliest stages of this investigation, the NYPD Intelligence Bureau and our partners in the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York worked closely to make sure this individual would be brought to justice.”
