GENESEE COUNTY MAN ARRAIGNED ON AGGRAVATED HARASSMENT CHARGE FOR THREATENING COUNTY EXECUTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 49-year-old Thomas E. Netter of Oakfield, N.Y. was arraigned this morning before Buffalo City Court Judge Shannon M. Heneghan on one count of Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree (Class “A” misdemeanor).

It is alleged that on January 29, 2021, at approximately 12:21 p.m., the defendant sent a threatening message via Facebook messenger to the Erie County Executive. The alleged threat, which placed the victim in reasonable fear of their physical safety, was related to COVID-19 mandates.

Netter is scheduled to return on Friday, October 1, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. for further proceedings. He was released on his own recognizance as the charge is non-qualifying for bail.

If convicted of the charge, Netter faces a maximum of one year in jail.

Judge Heneghan issued a No Contact Order of Protection on behalf of the victim.

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‘Fear is the tool of the tyrant’: Ex-DOJ officials leave scathing messages behind



Former Department of Justice officials who were either forced out or resigned in protest of President Donald Trump's administration left some scathing resignation letters for their bosses, and a new organization is seeking to preserve as many of the letters as possible, according to a new report.

Since Trump took office in January, about 5,000 employees at the Department of Justice have either quit or resigned, CBS News reported on Sunday. Meanwhile, a cadre of those former employees is banding together to create a public display of the messages the former employees left for their bosses. Those employees have created an organization called Justice Connection that is organizing and posting the messages, the report added.

Stacey Young, a former civil division attorney for the Justice Department, is leading Justice Connection. A spokesperson for the organization told CBS News that they are working to preserve the messages because they "show what is happening in our country at this moment."

The repository includes messages left by high-profile former employees such as Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey.

"Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought," Comey wrote in a message. "Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place."

Another former DOJ lawyer, Hagan Scotten, who resigned in protest of the Trump administration's decision to stop prosecuting New York City Mayor Eric Adams on corruption charges, also had her farewell message captured in the online database.

"If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion," Scotten wrote. "But it was never going to be me."

Read the entire report by clicking here.

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