A Michigan man allegedly made several threats to CNN, telling workers that he was coming to kill them all, according to an affidavit unsealed in federal court last week.
According to the affidavit, Brandon Griesemer, from Novi, Michigan made 22 calls to CNN on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, 2018, four of which contained threats.
It all started in September when the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor received a call from a man making derogatory comments relating to the mosque and Muslims.
Officers from Ann Arbor police traced the phone number to Griesemer's father. They were able to contact his mother, and eventually get in contact with Griesemer who said he was angry at the time of the call.
Fast forward to Jan. 9, 2018, when CNN's publicly-listed contact number received a call from the same number used to call the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor.
According to the affidavit, the caller told the CNN operator, "Fake news. I'm coming to gun you all down. F*** you, f****n' n*****s."
About three minutes later, the affidavit said the CNN number received another call from the same number, and the operator heard a male voice making disparaging comments about CNN and telling the operator that employees should kill themselves.
"I am on my way right now to gun the f****n' CNN cast down. F*** you," the caller said, according to the affidavit.
Then, 30 minutes later, the same number called CNN again, and the same male voice started whispering derogatory comments about the network, saying, "I'm coming for you CNN. I'm smarter than you. More powerful than you. I have more guns that you. More manpower. Your cast is about to get gunned down in a matter of hours," before hanging up.
An investigator employed by CNN searched law enforcement databases to match the number, and traced it again to Griesemer's father. He also called a second number associated with the first number and spoke to Griesemer.
The investigator recorded his conversation and then compared it to the recorded audio of the threatening calls and confirmed it sounded like the same person.
According to the complaint, Griesemer called CNN again a day later where he again threatened the network and made disparaging remarks about Jewish people.
"You are going down. I have a gun and I am coming to Georgia right now to go to the CNN headquarters to f***ing gun every single last one of you," the caller said, according to the affidavit. "I have a team of people. It's going to be great, man...You gotta get prepared for this one, buddy."
Eventually, the investigator was able to trace the phone number to a cell tower near 11 Mile Rd. in Novi.
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