- Jared Scott Smith, 50, from Midvale, charged with making terroristic threats.
- Smith's social media posts and emails expressed hostility and threats towards officials, charges say.
- His criminal history allegedly includes 13 convictions, raising safety concerns for law enforcement.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Midvale man who police say has been making hostile social media posts tied to his political views and sending emails to state employees was charged Thursday with crossing the line and making terroristic threats.
Jared Scott Smith, 50, is charged in 3rd District Court with making a threat of terrorism, a second-degree felony.
The State Bureau of Investigation was called on March 9 to investigate a "threatening email" received at 350 N. State, the address of the state Capitol.
The email referenced "dissatisfaction with the Republican Party and its support for President Trump," according to charging documents.
Investigators said they traced the email to Smith and noted that his "social media activity showed increasingly hostile posts centered on his political views." From January through March, charging documents say Smith's posts included:
- "It's getting about time to go hunting ...," referencing ICE and ICE operations.
- If ICE agents knock on his door, he "will be asking question(s) later."
- A "generated picture that shows a group of individuals confronting and recording police officers with their cellphones. The point of view of the image appeared to depict a perspective consistent with looking through the scope of a weapon, with police officers being visually framed as targets."
- Posts proclaiming he will "fight and die" and that he is "filled with … rage," and "I am a domestic terrorist."
- An additional generated image of an ICE agent being targeted through the scope of a rifle.
- A post threatening violence against President Donald Trump.
On Feb. 9, Smith posted, "I feel murderous!!!!" and, "If you still support Trump, then you are in fact supporting child molesters, child rapists, child murderers and child torturers," according to charging documents.
On March 8, he posted, "I am to the point, where it's time to organize some people, a militia, perhaps, if you will ... arm ourselves, identify and gather plenty of intel about selected targets, and go conduct raids on these concentration camps and liberate these poor humans who have been unjustly detained, who the vast majority of them have not committed any crimes whatsoever!!!!!! If anyone is interested, contact me, let's talk about some ideas, see if we can stitch together a feasible plan. .... I am very serious about this. ... I am not joking in the slightest," according to the charges.
Smith sent emails to members of the Utah lieutenant governor's staff, including one "in which Smith expressed dissatisfaction with the Republican Party and indicated he had not received a response. The email concluded with a veiled threat, stating, 'I will advance my goal in a different way,'" the charges allege.
Prosecutors state in their charges that because of the emails and posts, "there is substantial evidence indicating significant safety concerns based on the depicted imagery, which implies threats toward law enforcement and state employees. This conduct is consistent with prior content posted by Smith and further escalates concern due to its portrayal of violence directed at law enforcement officers and state employees."
Charging documents also note that Smith "has a criminal history consisting of 13 convictions, including three felony convictions. His history includes offenses such as child abuse, child cruelty and neglect, assault, domestic assault, multiple instances of unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon, harassment, and assault/intimidation/threats."
