A Washington state man was charged Tuesday with threatening to kill a recently resigned Ferguson, Missouri police officer identified by federal authorities only as "D.W."
Darren Wilson, the officer who shot and killed Michael Brown in August, resigned from the Ferguson force on Nov. 29. A grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson in Brown's death was announced Nov. 24.
Jaleel Tariq Abdul-Jabbaar, 46, faces three counts of making interstate threats. Each count is punishable by up to five years in prison. The complaint alleges he made repeated threats to kill "D.W.", members of the officer's family and other law enforcement officers.
Abdul-Jabbaar was arrested at his home in Kirkland, Washington on Tuesday morning and is scheduled to appear in a U.S. District Court in Seattle at 2 p.m. local time.
“Although we each have the right to express our views about the decision reached by the state grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, we cannot tolerate violence or threats of violence that are intended to intimidate, and ultimately silence debate," said Acting U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes in a statement. "Such threats are crimes, and the individuals who make them must be held to account.”
According to the complaint, Abdul-Jabbaar started posting threats on his Facebook page shortly after the Aug. 9 shooting of Brown, and continued posting through late November. Federal officials said Abdul-Jabbaar posted various statements about killing police officers and traveling to Ferguson, Missouri, including the statement, “We need to kill (the officer) and anything that has a badge on.”
In a Nov. 11 message, Abdul-Jabbaar allegedly asked if there were any "REAL BLACK MEN" willing to go to Ferguson and "give back those bullets that ... [D.W.] fired into the body of Michael Brown. If we're unable to locate Officer [D.W.] then we'll return them to his wife and if not her then to his children."
Prosecutors also allege that Abdul-Jabbaar used Facebook to attempt to acquire a firearm, asking an unidentified person in October to "hook a ninja up on the connect." After Wilson was not indicted, Abdul-Jabbar allegedly messaged the same person that it was "Time to kill a cop."