ATLANTA — The purported names and addresses of members of the grand jury that indicted Donald Trump and 18 of his co-defendants on state racketeering charges this week have been posted on a fringe website that often features violent rhetoric, NBC News has learned.
NBC News is choosing not to name the website featuring the addresses to avoid further spreading the information.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis faced racist threats ahead of the return of the indictment and additional security measures were put in place, with some employees being allowed to work from home.
The grand juror’s purported addresses were spotted by Advance Democracy, Inc., a non-partisan research group founded by Daniel J. Jones, a former FBI investigator and staffer for the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“It’s becoming all too commonplace to see everyday citizens performing necessary functions for our democracy being targeted with violent threats by Trump-supporting extremists,” Jones said. “The lack of political leadership on the right to denounce these threats — which serve to inspire real-world political violence— is shameful.”
Advance Democracy also noted that users were posting on other social media sites the names and images of people believed to have been grand jurors. The posts asserted that the jurors had posted on social media in support of Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., former President Barack Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Yesterday — after Trump posted on his social media website that authorities were going “after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!” — Advance Democracy noted that Trump supporters were “using the term ‘rigger’ in lieu of a racial slur” in posts online.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the surrender of Trump and his co-defendants over the course of the next 10 days, declined to comment.
“We are not commenting on any issues related to grand jury security,” said Natalie Ammons, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The grand jurors have come under attack in the days since Trump’s indictment, the fourth criminal indictment brought against the twice-impeached former president.
“These jurors have signed their death warrant by falsely indicting President Trump,” read one post on a pro-Trump forum in response to a post including the names of jurors, which was viewed by NBC News.
Alexander reported from Atlanta, Reilly reported from Washington.
Charlie Gile contributed.