Grand Jurors Refuse to Indict 2 Accused of Trump Threats

Federal grand jurors in the nation's capital have refused to indict two people who were charged separately with threatening to kill President Trump, more evidence of a growing backlash against Trump's law enforcement intervention in Washington, DC.

• It is extraordinarily rare for a grand jury to balk at returning an indictment, but it has happened at least seven times in five cases since Trump last month ordered a surge in patrols by federal agents and troops in the District of Columbia, the AP reports. One of the instances involved the case against a man charged with hurling a sandwich at a federal agent.

• The latest example occurred Tuesday, when Justice Department prosecutors told a magistrate judge that a grand jury declined to indict Edward Alexander Dana. He is accused of making a death threat against Trump while in police custody on Aug. 17. Dana also told police that he was intoxicated that night.
• Grand jurors also refused to hand up an indictment against Nathalie Rose Jones, who was arrested Aug. 16 in Washington on charges that she made death threats against Trump on social media and during an interview with Secret Service agents. Jones' attorney disclosed the decision in a court filing Monday.
• Dana's lawyer, Elizabeth Mullin, says she has never seen anything like this in over 20 years as a public defender in Washington. She says prosecutors are responding to Trump's surge by bringing "weak cases" that don't belong in federal court. "And the grand juries are seeing through it," Mullin says. "It's a huge waste in resources."

• Last month, a grand jury refused to indict a government attorney who was facing a felony assault charge for throwing a Subway sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent—a confrontation captured on a viral video.
• Three grand juries voted separately against indicting a woman accused of assaulting an FBI agent outside the city's jail in July, where she was recording video of the transfer of inmates into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
• A grand jury also rejected an indictment against a man who was arrested on an assault charge by a US Park Police officer with the assistance of National Guard members.
• Grand jury proceedings are secret, so the reasons for their decisions don't become public. But the string of rebukes has fueled speculation that residents serving on grand juries are using their votes to protest against the White House's surge.