Rickey Johnson, a New York City resident, was arrested Thursday for allegedly making repeated death threats to public officials and journalists. In one instance, Johnson, also known as Nigel Dawn Defarren, sent a journalist a direct message on Jan. 30 saying, “you will all be held accountable... you will be killed” and mentioned two other cable broadcasters. On Feb. 3 he wrote a public post saying he would “kill” two of the same journalists, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said.
Johnson also directed threats at several sitting and former members of the House and Senate, including a former House Speaker. He said a governor “will be executed” and “will be killed.” If convicted, Johnson faces up to 15 years in prison.
