Trump Supporters Share Info on Georgia Grand Jurors

Purported addresses, photos appeared on 'fringe' website
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 17, 2023 10:35 AM CDT
Trump Supporters Share Addresses of Grand Jury Members
Barricades are seen near the Fulton County Courthouse on Aug. 7 in Atlanta.   (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

On what NBC News describes as a "fringe website that often features violent rhetoric," Donald Trump supporters are sharing what they say are the addresses, photos, and social media profiles of Georgia grand jury members. The names of the jurors were made public in the 98-page indictment of Trump and 18 co-defendants, but no other information was provided. CNN reports that the names and purported addresses—some of which appear to be those of other people with the same names as jurors—have appeared everywhere from a "major social media profile, to pro-Trump forums, to sites that have previously been linked to violent extremist attacks."

The posts on the "fringe" website, which NBC says it has chosen not to name, were spotted by the nonpartisan group Advance Democracy. Its founder, former FBI investigator Daniel Jones, says "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." The group says that after Trump posted on Truth Social this week about election "RIGGERS," his supporters have been "using the term 'rigger' in lieu of a racial slur."

Some commenters called for violence against the jurors, with one person on a pro-Trump forum saying they had "signed their death warrant by falsely indicting President Trump." Others said people should congregate outside the jurors' homes. Fulton County DA Fani Willis has also been the target of threats and racial abuse. Georgia law doesn't allow judges to keep the names of grand jurors secret, though some are arguing that the law needs to change to protect jurors in high-profile cases from harassment, the Washington Post reports. "Georgia needs to fix this practice yesterday," says former US attorney and FBI official Chuck Rosenberg. "I am all for transparency, but not when it puts citizens at risk." (More Georgia indictment stories.)

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