Online group’s phony court orders, bounties target NC judges, among hundreds nationally
A shadowy online vigilante group claims to have put bounties on the heads of a dozen Mecklenburg County judges, accusing them and hundreds of other elected officials across the country of treason and environmental crimes.
About three dozen elected officials and government employees in the Asheville area have received phony “writs of execution,” a type of order enforcing a decision by a court, demanding $1 million fines and threatening citizens’ arrests, according to the Smoky Mountain News, which first reported the story. Bounties of up to $20,000 would be paid by the nonexistent “U.S. Environmental District Court” for each official seized.
A copy of one of the mailings appears on a website for a group that bills itself as “The People’s Bureau of Investigation,” which also includes a nationwide database of the government targets it claims to have served. The names range from President Joe Biden to county and municipal workers from the North Carolina mountains.
“WE THE PEOPLE by way of The PBI, will see to it that justice is served to those that come against liberty, freedom, The Constitution, our founding documents and the American way of life ... The People have had ENOUGH!” according to a website manifesto.
Annoyance or valid threat?
It’s unclear what threat, if any, the mailings pose. But they come at a time when the country’s criminal justice system — from judges to police and the FBI — have become the targets of increasingly volatile rhetoric and isolated acts of violence, most recently from the right.
“In the past, this might be considered more of an annoyance,” said Superior Court Judge Lisa Bell of Charlotte, a Republican whose name appears on the PBI database.
“But in light of what’s going on today, there’s the realization that there may be things we need to be afraid of that we don’t even know we need to be afraid of. It’s the unknown that’s so concerning.”
On Aug. 11, an armed Ohio man in body armor, angered by the FBI’s search this month of the Florida home of former President Donald Trump, attempted to breach the agency’s office in Cincinnati. He was later shot and killed after exchanging gunfire with police. Meanwhile, the judge who signed the warrant allowing the FBI search has received threats from Trump supporters.
In North Carolina, the FBI says it is aware of the mailings, but the level of involvement by agents remains unclear.
Shelley Lynch, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Charlotte, told The Charlotte Observer that the agency has been in “regular contact” with officials in Haywood County, west of Asheville, where about half the writs purportedly received by N.C. officials were mailed, according to the Smoky Mountain News.
Citing Department of Justice policies, however, Lynch would not confirm or deny that an investigation is underway.
The list of supposed targets includes 11 current or former Mecklenburg judges. Bell, a Republican who will be leaving the bench at the end of the year, said she had not received one of the sham writs and was unaware of being listed until contacted by the Observer on Friday.
Likewise, Bell’s colleague on the Superior Court bench, Democrat Lou Trosch of Charlotte, said he has not received a writ though his name appears on the list of those who have been served. He called the listing “concerning,” particularly given “an environment in which there are increasing attacks on all aspects of our justice system.”
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Carla Archie, who also appears on the database, told the Observer on Friday that she, too, had not received one of the writs. Archie, a Democrat, declined further comment.
PBI linked to Illinois man
In tone and content, the threats and other writing on the sham documents resemble frequent nuisance lawsuits by the Moorish Nation, Sovereign Citizens and other individuals or groups that refuse to recognize court authority.
In rarer instances, judges appear to be the targets of physical threats — as was the case in 2015 when two Charlotte judges and the Charlotte city attorney at the time were placed under police surveillance after their photographs were found in the cell of a gang leader later convicted of arranging the murder of a witness in his case.
The Smoky Mountain News linked the PBI website to Tim Dever, who operates an arcade company in a Chicago suburb. Dever’s social media pages include the PBI logo. His LinkedIn page describes him as a CEO and a “freedom fighting cereal (sic) entrepreneur.”
Dever did not respond to an Observer email request Monday seeking comment.
The PBI database of purported N.C. targets includes about 70 names. Most are elected officials who come from both parties, including Chief Justice Paul Newby, a Republican, and several other members of the state Supreme Court. Others appear to be government employees; a few hold private-sector jobs. The website makes broad allegations against them of treason, “Deep State” corruption, and environmental crimes including the poisoning of public water supplies.
A spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts, which runs the state court system, said Monday that the “Judicial Branch does not comment on issues regarding the security of judges or justices.”
Along with the $1 million fines, the accused would be required to appear before a tribunal, the PBI website states.
“Our so-called governments refuse to arrest themselves and their corporate partners in crime. Our so-called governments are destructive,” the website says.
“Sheriffs, other elected officials and responsible corporate officers must sign their respective resolutions in hopes that they will receive leniency for their crimes against humanity.”
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
