A federal grand jury in the District refused to indict a woman accused of threatening President Trump over social media as juries keep cases out of the courtroom amid his crime crackdown in the nation’s capital.
The public defender for Nathalie Rose Jones revealed Monday that the grand jury chose not to push through the indictment on threat charges, according to a court filing.
“A grand jury has now found no probable cause to indict Ms. Jones on the charged offenses. Given that finding, the weight of the evidence is weak,” the court document said. “The government may intend to try again to obtain an indictment, but the evidence has not changed and no indictment is likely.”
Grand jury indictments are held to a low evidentiary burden, making it common for them to make it to trial.
The spike in refusals lends to the impression this may be an act of protest against Mr. Trump’ declared crime emergency in Washington, which saw National Guard troops and federal authorities flooding the streets.
Ms. Jones’ attorneys sought to secure her release from jail as the court weighs next steps in the case.
Court documents against Ms. Jones include Facebook posts in which she allegedly describes killing Mr. Trump in graphic detail.
“Here’s where we are: I literally told FBI in five states that I am willing to sacrificially kill this POTUS by disemboweling him and cutting out his trachea with Liz Cheney and all The Affirmation present and you did not come to my home this way at all,” the defendant wrote, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Ms. Jones called Mr. Trump a “terrorist” and a “Nazi” and would kill the president if given the opportunity during a voluntary interview with the Secret Service on Aug. 15.
The prosecutors said that in that same interview, she told the Secret Service she had access to a “bladed object” she would use to “carry out her mission of killing” Mr. Trump.
She said she wanted to kill the president to “avenge” the people who died during the COVID-19 pandemic, which she blamed on Mr. Trump’s first administration.
Ms. Jones, who is originally from New York, was arrested in the District while in town for a protest Aug. 16. Prosecutors said she admitted to making the threats but said she didn’t have any real desire to harm the president.
Ms. Jones is now the sixth case in which D.C. grand juries prevented hefty charges from being brought before a judge — with each case centered around charges of assaulting federal law enforcement officers.
A grand jury last week declined to indict former Justice Department employee Sean Dunn, whose video showed him chucking a foot-long sandwich at a federal police officer and scurrying away.
Another grand jury last month passed on indicting Alvin Summers, who was arrested after he allegedly wrestled a U.S. Park Police officer to the ground while he was being handcuffed on the National Mall.
Charging documents said a National Guard soldier saw the ruckus and ran over to detain a fleeing Mr. Summers. The filing said Mr. Summers discarded an object, which was a suspected vial of PCP, during his attempted escape.
And three grand juries refused to indict Sidney Lori Reid following her July arrest for tussling with federal authorities standing by to make immigration arrests outside the D.C. Jail.
In Mr. Dunn and Ms. Reid’s cases, prosecutors said they’re now pursuing misdemeanor charges instead of felony assault. A conviction on felony charges could have meant up to eight years behind bars.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.