Case 1:21-mj-02699-AOR Document 3 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/09/2021 Page CG

1 of 7

Apr 8, 2021
U NITED STATES D ISTR ICT C OU RT
SO UTM R N D ISTRIC T O F FL ORIDA MIAMI, FL

CASE NO .
1:2l-mj-02699-A0R
LN R E:SEA LED CO IIPA IN T

CRIM INA L COV ER SH EET

1. Did tllism atteroriginate from a matterpending in the CentralRegion ofthe United States
Attomey'sOfticepriortoAugust9,[email protected])? Yes X No
2. D id thism atter originate from a m atterpending in the N ol-them Region ofthe United States
Attomey'sOfficepliortoAugttst8,2014(M ag.JudgeShaniekM aynard)?- Yes X No
3. D id this m atter originate from a m atter pending i!l the CentralRegion ofthe U nited States
Attonley'sOffcepriortoOctober3,2019(M ag.JudgeJaredStrauss)? Yes X No
4. D id thism atter originate from a m atterpending illthe Southem Region of the United States
Attot-ney'sOfficeptiortoNovember23,2020(JudgeAileenNI.Camlon)? Yes X-NO
Respectfully sublnitted,

JuM AN FOM O GON ZM EZ

A CTW G U N ITED STATES A U ORNEY

z<##zà p .
A bbieD .Nvaxm an
AssistantUnited StatesAttolrey
Southem DistrictofFlotida
Flotida BarN o.:109315
99Nollheast4th Street
M iam i,Florida 33132-2111
Telephone:305-961-9240
E-mail:Abbie.W é[email protected]
Case 1:21-mj-02699-AOR Document 3 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/09/2021 Page 2 of 7

A091(Rev-û8/()9)CriminalComplai
nt

U NITED STATES D ISTRICT C OURT

fbrthe
SoutllernDistrictofFlorida

United StatesofAlnerica
V.
CaseNo. 1:21-mj-02699-AOR
Nkiane PetitPhelps

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CRIM INAL COM PT,AINT BY TELEPHONE OR OTH ER RELIABLE ELECTRONIC M EANS

1,thecomplainan:in thiscase,statethatthefollowing istl-

ueto thebestofmy knowledgeandbelief
0noraboutthedatets)of 2/13/2021-2/18/2021 in thecotlntyof Miami
-Dade inthe
southern Districtof Fl
- vfttp . - ,thedefcndantts)violated:
Codeq
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bn OhklneDc-rcrl
/r/on
18U.S.C.â871 ThreatsAgainsttheVicePresident

Tlliscrilninalcolnplaintisbasedontàesefacts:
SEE AU ACHED AFFIDAVIT.

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Date: 4/8/21
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Case 1:21-mj-02699-AOR Document 3 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/09/2021 Page 3 of 7

AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF CRIM INAL COM PLAINT

1,LucasA .W hite,being duly sworn,do hereby depose and state the following:

INTRODUCTION AND AGENT BACKGROUND

I am an inkestigative or law enforcem ent officer of the United States within the

meaningofSection2510(7)ofTitle 18,United StatesCode.Thatis,Iam anofticeroftheUnited

Stateswho isempowered by law to coltductinvestigationsof,andxm âke arrestsfor,violationsofTitle

18 oftheU nited StatesCode.

Ipm aSpecialA gentwith theUhited StatesSEclztSerkice alïd have been so elpployed

sincç Octobqr 20i7. 1 am currently assigned to the M iam iField Office - Protcctike Intelligcnce

Squad.lhavebeenassignedtoassisttheBrowardCountySheriff'sOffice(BSO)Tlu-eatManagement
Division.someofmydutiesinclude,butarenotlimitedto,ilwestigattngthreatstowardsthePresident
and Vice Presidentofthe U nited States.Prior to m y ctlrrentassignm ent,1was a police officerwith

the GulfportPoliceD epartm entinM ississippiforfive years.Priorto m y law enfèrcçm ent.experience

x

with the G ulfportPolice D epartm ent,1was apolice officerwith the New OrleansPolice D epal-tm ent

in Louisiana forfouryears.

Thc inform ation setf6l

4h ilRthis Aflidavitis provided in stlpportbf the attached

criminalcomplaintchargingNIVIANE PETIT PHELPS (QTHELPSM).Svith tkeatsagainsttheVice

PresidentoftheUnited States.inviolationofTitle 18,UnitedStatesCode,Section871.

The inforfhation contained in this Affidavit is based dn m y personalknowledge,as

well as inform ation relayed to m e by other lttw enforcem ent agents and officers involved in this

investigation.lhavenotincltldedinthisAffidaviteveryfaètknowntomeortootherlaw enfo
'rcemônt
officerssurrounding thisinvestigation.Rather,Ihaveincltlded onlythosefactsnecesjary to establish

probable cause forthe proposed com plaint.

Case 1:21-mj-02699-AOR Document 3 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/09/2021 Page 4 of 7

PR OBABLE CAUSE

5. On or aboutM arch 3,2021,atapproxim ately 11.38 a.m .,Special Agent David

Ballenger,U.S.SecretService,sliam iField O ffice,Protective lntelligence Squad,wasnotified by

Inspector Chester Potter,Law Enforcem ent Inspector Supervisor, Florida Office of Insgector

General,of a threatto killVice PresidentK am ala H arris. Specifically,the threats w ere sentby

PHELPS to her incarcerated spotlse via '<JPay.'' PHELPS' spouse is incarcerated at '
W akulla

Correctional lnstitutioa located in Crawfordville,Florida.Jpay is a comptlter application that

allowsforthesharing ofm ediabetw een non-incarcerated individualsand incarcerated individuals.

lnspectorPotterprovided nle with f-

ive (5)videos,each ofwhich wasthirty secondsin length.l

InspectorPotteralso provided me with two (2)photographsthatPI-FIRLPS hadsentto herspouse

via Jpay. 1laterobtained additionalvidcosand photographs from Jpay thatPHELPS had sentto

herspouse.

6. Irevieweclthe aforenAentioned videosand photographs. The videos (thatareof

relevancetothisinvcstigationlzgenerallydepictPHELPS coluplainingandspeakingqngrilytothe
cam eraaboutherhatred forPresidentJoe Biden and Vicc PresidentK am alaH anis,am ong others.

How ever, in these videos, PI-IELPS also m ade statcm ents about killing Vice

President Harris. For example, in a video dated February 2021 (Video I'
D
16889262 202l0213 220330),PHELPS stated:tt
- - Kamalal-larrisyou are going to die.Yourdays
arenumberedalready.Someonepaidme$53,000justtofuckyouupandI'm gonnatakethe.I'm
gonna do the job, okay.'' ln a video dated Fcbruary 2021 (Video ID

'Ilaterlearned thatusers of the .1pay application are lilmited to sencling videos w hich are thirty
secondsin length.

2Some ofthe videos1receivecldepictbenign, random acts,such asdancing and recording m ovies

on the television.
Case 1:21-mj-02699-AOR Document 3 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/09/2021 Page 5 of 7

16889262 20210214 114381),PHELPS stgted:l'lf1seeyouin thestreeq l'm gonnakillyourass

- -

Kamala Harris.'' In another video, also dated February 14, 2021 (Video ID
16889262 20210214 125994),PHELPS stated:t
- - 'l'm poingto thegunrange,justforyoarassa
until you fuckin' leave the chair.'' A nd in a video dated F
, ebruary 18;2021 (Video ID
16889262- 20210218 - 184.161)sPHELPS stated:'tAnd fuckin'KamalaHarris,1sweartoGod,
todayisyourday you're gonna die.50 daysfroln today,m ark thisday dow n,stupidbitch,Knm ala
.

fuckin'Harrisvice president.You gonnafuckin'die 50 daysfrom today,1swearto fuckin'God!

Yourdayis...(cutofg''
8. As to the tw o photographs 1initially received,one dçpicts PHELPS ata shooting

range. PH ELPS isholding a pistolnextto a targetcontaining bulletholes,and she issm iling.The

photograph isdated February20,2021.Asindicated.ïbove,PHELPS hadstated in ayideodated

six dayspriorthatshe was going to a t<gun range.'' And 1subsequently learned thaton February

22 2021 PHELPSappliedforaconcealedweaponspermit.

Thesecond photograph showsanunidentifiedjuvenilemale,latetdetermincdto

be PHELPS'son,holding a pistoland atarget.

l0.
. On M arch 3,2021,SpecialAgentBallengerand l,acconp anied by detectivesfrom
.

the M iam i-Dade Police Departm ent,wentto PHELPS'residence in M iam iG ardensto atteluptan

interview.1made cbntactwith PHELPS an'd wasinvited inside,Before entering the residence,

PHELPS was asked ifshehad any fsguns orweapöns''inside,to Which she replied $%N o,butl'm

going to get.a gun.''Upon contactw ith PHELPS,we positively identified lier as the individual

from the videos and photographs listed above,W e were also ûble to determ ine.thatsom e ofthe

above referenced videosw ere film ed in PH ELPS'residence.Iread PH ELPS herM iranda tights,

butshe refused to speak w ith usatthattim e.

Case 1:21-mj-02699-AOR Document 3 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/09/2021 Page 6 of 7

Two dayslater,1received acallf'

rom PI-
IELPS,who colnplained thatherem ployer

had puther on adnRinistrative leave. D uring ourconversatiol),I asked herif she now w anted to

speak svith Iue,and she stated thal.shedid.

lè. On M arch 6,202l,1wentback to PHELPS'home to interview her.1asked

PHELPS abouther use of Jpay and if she believed others would see her com m unications,She.

indicatedthatshedicl.Shealso stated thatsheuse,dJpayto %'letthejusticesystem know what's

goingon-''PHELPSstated (hatshehad anideathatthesvarden (ofherspouse'sfacility)would
see herconnmunicationssbutthatshe thotlghtto herself,<ç1don'tcare,here goes nothing-''During

the interview slexplained to PI-IELPS that1was aSpecialAgentwith the SecretService andIwas

there to speak with heraboutsom e videos.1asked ifshe knew w l

zich videos1w astalking about.

She stated thatshedid.

PI-IELPS slarted by saying tllat she was angry atthe tim e about Kam ala Harlis

beconzing'Vice President,btlt thatshe is etover itnow .''PHELPS expressed h0w She believes

Kal
ualaH arrisisnotactually 'ûblack''and how during inauguration Kam ala Harrisdislzspectfally

puther hand on her clutch purse instead ofthe bible.PH ELPS continued saying thatsom ebody

told herthatAm erica isgoing to choose who they choose,so PHELPS had to putherrage about

thq Vice Presidentaside. PH ELPS stated thatshe is now çtpastit.''Butwhen 1 asked PHELPS

w hatw ould havc happened iflhad notcom e to herhouse acouple nightsago,she stated:i'Idon't

knovv ldon'tknow-''

14. Itllen confronted PH ELPS w ith herstatementsin the videos aboutw anting to kill

the Vice President,and I asked ifshe w anteclto w atch the videos.PHELPS quickly'said thatshe

did not.Her m other,w ho was in the room ,asked to see them ,and PHELPS told herlnothershe

did nQtwantherto and to sec them ,1continucd asking PHELPS aboutthe contentsofsom eofthe

4
Case 1:21-mj-02699-AOR Document 3 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/09/2021 Page 7 of 7

videosand the photogntph 1llad originally seen.She enlphasized how $he got'Tl
i
tlOtofangerotlt

atthegunrange.''PHELPS stated thatshe actually keptthctargetfrom thegtlnrangebecauseShe

içlikestolookatit.''W henaskedwhyshewentto thegunrange,PHELPS statedthatitwasbecatlse

ofthcneighborhood w here shc livcs.Svhcn 1confronted hcrabouthcrstating in the video thatshe

wentto the gun rangeforKamalaHarris,PHELPS replied thatshejtlstdoesnotlikchtr.The

interview concluded with measking PHELPS ifshehad anyplanstotfavelto q/ashington D.C.,

and she stated she did not. However,PHELPS' daughter, who was in the room during the

interview,staLed:flDidn'twe say wewere going?''PHELPS irnlnediaselyresponded to.

he1-:'<N(.
),
'
w e're. notgoing.
''

CONCLUSION
Based on the above inform ation,Irespectfully subrnitthatthere isprobable cause

to believe thatfrom Febrtlaly l3,2021,through February 18,2021.in M ianliD ade County,in the

Southern DistrictofFlorida,NW IANE PETIT PHELPS knokvingly andwillfully madetluyatsto

killand inflictbodily llanlaupon the Vice Presidentofthe United States,in violation ofTitle l8,

U nited States Codc,Scction 871.

FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH N AUG HT.

LucasA.W hite,SpecialAgent
United StatesSecretSelxice

Sworn to and subscribtd before m e via Face Time

Telephûnically this 8th day ofApril.2021in
M ianû,Florida.
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A LICIA M .OTAZ REY S
U NITED STA TES M AGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DB TRICT O F FLORTDA