For the past year, an anonymous threat-maker has been sending menacing messages via the U.S. mail to conservatives and Republicans in Ventura County, including supporters of and advertisers in The Conejo Guardian. A look at the handwriting reveals that the same person may be responsible for defacing the Reagan Library before Ron DeSantis’s speech there in March.
That graffiti, which spelled “Ron DeFascist,” was discovered by library employees early in the morning and removed quickly from the sign.
“The vandalism took place during the night and there were no witnesses,” the Simi Valley Police Department said in a statement.
But local people who received intimidating mailings in 2021 and 2022 say the handwriting looked familiar — and evidence is now being turned over to the police for examination.
“Do you still think Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are telling you the truth?” an anonymous letter-writer wrote to a local business that had advertised in The Conejo Guardian. “You fell for the propaganda pushed by the Russians. Gloves are off when it comes to my country. … F*** you, traitor.”
(Note: Some content of the messages is unsuitable for general audiences. We have blurred certain portions in an obvious way.)
A second business received the same printed letter with a handwritten note in the margin which read, in part, “Your voice was shakey during your little speech [at the school board meeting]. You’re scared. I could tell. … Scared? Those moms are gonna rip you again.”
Characters in the graffiti and in the mailed threats bear strong resemblances to each other.
A third local resident received a fake-parody postcard promoting “Trump/Putin 2024,” with a handwritten note that said: “PERV. Take Trump’s d*** out of your mouth.”
In each mailed piece and on the Reagan sign graffiti, the writer mingled capital N’s among lowercase letters. Several other letters — including t, e, a and o — which appear in the graffiti and in the mailed threats all bear strong resemblances to each other.
“It’s a serious federal crime to use the mail to threaten a person,” according to the U.S. Postal Service. “Report threatening letters. Keep any letter that attempts to scare, threaten or extort you in any way, and report it to the Postal Inspection Service by calling 1-877-876-2455.”
“It’s a serious federal crime to use the mail to threaten a person.”
Anonymous letters “containing any threat to injure the property or reputation of the addressee or of another … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both,” according to 18 U.S. Code § 876 – Mailing threatening communications. Tips? Let us know! Email [email protected].
Great reporting. I hope the police capture this menace to society. They will get plenty of time to write postcards from a 6’ jail cell.
Keep up the great work.