Man told Fauci he’d be ‘captured, tortured and killed’ in threatening emails, feds say
A man has been arrested and charged after federal officials say he sent Dr. Anthony Fauci a series of threatening emails.
Thomas Patrick Connally Jr., 56, is accused of using an encrypted email service based in Switzerland to send threats to Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and to Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, between December 2020 and July 2021, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
Several of the emails threatened that Fauci and his family would be harmed or killed, according to an affidavit.
“You and your entire family will be dragged into the street, beaten to death and set on fire,” one of the emails included in the affidavit read.
In another email, Connally called Fauci a “disgusting liar and fraud” and threatened that he would be “hunted, captured, tortured and killed,” according to the affidavit.
On April 24, Connally is accused of sending Fauci seven threatening emails between 10:09 p.m. and 10:12 p.m.
About 30 minutes before that, officials say he sent Collins four emails from the same address, including one threatening that his daughters would be “hunted, captured, tortured and shot in the back of the head” if he spoke again about “mandatory vaccines,” according to the affidavit.
Connally is also accused of using the email address to talk with another person about Fauci and about “views that Dr. Fauci was engaged in fraud regarding HIV and AIDS,” officials say.
Federal officials say that during their investigation they discovered the email address was associated with Connally.
“Pursuant to a search warrant, law enforcement obtained emails from a mail.com account which the affidavit alleges Connally used to communicate with the encrypted email address used to send the threatening emails,” a Tuesday news release says.
Connally is charged with “threats against a federal official” and “interstate communication containing a threat to harm,” officials say. He is expected to appear in court Wednesday.
If convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for the first charge and a maximum of five years in federal prison for the second, officials say.
Fauci, who serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has frequently been a target of threats during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was given a personal security detail near the beginning of the pandemic after he and his family received hate mail and threatening messages.
In January, Fauci told The New York Times that he once opened a letter in his office and “a puff of powder came all over” his face and chest.
“It was a benign nothing,” Fauci told The New York Times. “But it was frightening. My wife and my children were more disturbed than I was. I looked at it somewhat fatalistically. It had to be one of three things: A hoax or anthrax, which meant I’d have to go on Cipro for a month, or if it was ricin, I was dead, so bye-bye.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan Lenzner said in the news release that “we will never tolerate violent threats against public officials.”
“Our public health officials deserve our thanks and appreciation for their tireless work, and we will not hesitate to bring charges against those individuals who seek to use fear to silence these public servants,” Lenzner said.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Man told Fauci he’d be ‘captured, tortured and killed’ in threatening emails, feds say."
