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Virginia Man Accused of Threatening Tulsa Mayor Over Trump Rally

Federal prosecutors accused a Virginia man Friday of harassing and threatening Tulsa’s Republican mayor to halt President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in the city last month in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

TULSA, Okla. (CN) — Federal prosecutors accused a Virginia man Friday of harassing and threatening Tulsa’s Republican mayor to halt President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in the city last month in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Adam Maxwell Donn, 40, of Norfolk, is charged with cyberstalking, according to the criminal complaint filed July 15 and unsealed Friday. Donn made his initial appearance in federal court in Virginia Friday and was released shortly thereafter. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Tulsa on July 22.

Prosecutors allege Donn sent Mayor G.T. Bynum and his wife Susan at least 44 email messages and 14 phone calls between June 11 and 22. Trump’s rally at the BOK Center Arena in downtown Tulsa was on June 20.

“Hoping you, Susan, [your son], [your daughter] get covid,” Dunn allegedly wrote on June 19. “You are a spineless backboneless piece of shit. Fuck you Fuck Fuck [your son] and Fuck [your daughter]. Your family deserves coronavirus and [I] truly hope your lineage comes to an end. You pick a rally over the health of your city. You will go down in history as someone who let coronavirus take hold of tulsa instead of trying to contain it.”

Donn allegedly claimed to be a physician and former Republican in the messages, saying “I shouldn’t have to treat people stupid enough to go to a rally in the middle of a pandemic.” Donn is not listed as a licensed physician in Virginia, according to the Virginia Board of Medicine’s website.

Several of the alleged messages attacked Bynum’s Catholic faith and accused him of “bending over” for Trump. The messages allegedly threatened to publish Bynum’s home address and his children’s telephone numbers and social media accounts.

On the day of the rally, Donn allegedly pleaded with Bynum's wife to ask him to cancel the rally.

“Allowing 20,000 people to gather when Tulsa is seeing a surge in cases is irresponsible and borderline negligent,” Donn allegedly wrote. “Where are my rights as a doctor to not be exposed to Coronavirus. At this point I don’t believe the mayor is listening to reason, maybe he will listen to you. You have the chance to SAVE 20,000 lives.”

A day earlier, Donn allegedly left voicemail messages at the law firm where she works.

“Crazy bitch, your fucking husband is killing people, I hope your fucking family gets coronavirus,” the messages allegedly state. “Fucking coward bitch, fuck you.”

Prosecutors claim she received a voicemail message asking to confirm her street address “before his guys made a delivery.”

“Not only did the Bynum family receive the messages from above, Susan was notified by coworkers claiming there were inappropriate emails being sent by Susan,” a 17-page affidavit by FBI Special Agent Christopher McCarthy states. “The subject masqueraded as Susan Bynum and sent emails to her colleagues via the law firm website.”

U.S. Attorney Trent Shores said Donn “will now face the real world consequences” for his alleged crimes.

“Cyberstalkers try to hide behind keyboards while they threaten and intimidate others, but their online actions have real world effects,” Shores said in a statement.

Tulsa officials estimate only 6,000 people attended Trump’s rally in the 19,000-seat capacity arena, falling short of the campaign's expectation of up to 200,000 people downtown for the event. It was one of the first mass gatherings in the United States since stay-at-home lockdown orders were issued in March.

Both Bynum and the Oklahoma Supreme Court refused to halt the gathering in spite of no social distancing measures being enforced. The high court ruled on June 19 that social distancing was not required at the rally because it was lifted on June 1 under the state’s Phase 3 reopening measures.

Tulsa health officials have since said it is “more than likely” that such large gatherings have contributed to the area’s spike in confirmed cases.

Follow @davejourno
Categories / Criminal, Government

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