Just days after President Donald Trump announced his "Highly-Anticipated 2017 Fake News Awards," a Michigan teenager was arrested for allegedly calling CNN's headquarters multiple times with threats to gun down its employees for making "fake news."
Brandon Griesemer, a 19-year-old who lives with his parents in Novi, was arrested last week. According to a criminal complaint filed to U.S. District Court, Griesemer allegedly called CNN's Atlanta headquarters 22 times over the course of two days earlier this month. An FBI investigation traced the calls to a phone number associated with Griesemer's father.
Over his repeated calls to CNN, the caller made a number of derogatory statements about African-Americans and Jewish people, and railed against fake news. On his first call, he said, "Fake news. I'm coming to gun you all down. Fuck you, fuckin' niggers," and hung up. Three minutes later, the caller called again, saying, "I am on my way to gun the fuckin' CNN cast down. Fuck you."
Thirty minutes later, the same caller called in again, saying, "I'm smarter than you. I have more guns than you. More manpower. Your cast is going to get gunned down in a matter of hours."
The next day, the same caller said, "You are going down. I have a gun and I am coming to Georgia right now to go to the CNN headquarters to fucking gun every single last one of you. I have a team of people. It's going to be great, man ... You gotta get prepared for this one, buddy."
It was not Griesemer's first encounter with the FBI. In September 2017, he admitted to calling in anti-Muslim threats to the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor, according to the documents.
Griesemer was arrested on Friday and released on a $10,000 unsecured bond. If convicted, he could face a fine or up to five years of prison.
On Monday, CNN released a statement:
"We take any threats to CNN employees or workplaces, around the world, extremely seriously. This one is no exception. We have been in touch with local and federal law enforcement throughout, and have taken all necessary measures to ensure the safety of our people."
The criminal complaint can be read below:
