HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida woman was arrested on Tuesday over alleged threats to kill Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
In a release, deputies announced that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement contacted the HCSO on Tuesday about a “threatening written communication” on the governor’s website.
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Investigators said that the author of that message — identified as Danyele Callaway, 20 — completed a questionnaire on the website to ask for an in-person meeting with DeSantis.
Callaway filled out her name, email address, phone number and physical address, requesting to meet with DeSantis “as soon as possible,” the release shows.
But under the “meeting summary of issue” portion of the questionnaire, Callaway reportedly wrote the following in part:
“You gonna try and bakeract me again comeon over and try you scurry (expletive) hoe I kill ya you already know this you can’t do (expletive) try me hoe try and bakeract me send me to jail gimme more to write about try and take me away I still kill ya at the end hoe try me youcat do (expletive) CONFESS CONFESS CONFESS”
Portion of Callaway's message on the governor's website
“A confidential member of the governor’s office read the message and felt threatened,” a criminal report affidavit reads. “As such, they contacted FDLE to investigate.”
Just after 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, deputies responded to Callaway’s home to assess her mental health and the potential threat she posed, investigators said. After the interview, she admitted to making the threats online, and so she was arrested.
“We will not accept a threat against anyone in our community, especially our governor,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “Threatening the lives of those who serve our democratic institutions is an attack on the very principles of our society and justice system. While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, no one has the right to endanger others’ lives.”
According to the release, Callaway has made verbal threats against DeSantis in the past, and she’s also expressed “strong anti-government” and “anti-law enforcement” views, though deputies didn’t clarify what that entailed.
Court records show that Callaway was arrested twice earlier this year on charges of battery and resisting law enforcement officers, though the charges in both cases were ultimately dropped by prosecutors.
Callaway faces a charge of making a threat to kill. She is held on a bond of $5,000.
No additional information has been provided at this time, including the remainder of Callaway’s message.
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