April 2024 TorchStone Global Monthly Executive Protection Report
TorchStone Global believes that broader situational awareness and intelligence are key to providing quality executive protection—whether the principal is a Fortune 500 CEO, international celebrity, or local city council member. With that in mind, we are launching our monthly executive protection report, cataloging incidents we have captured through our open-source searches that are relevant to the practice of executive protection. We hope the report will serve as a centralized source of threat activity to provide insight into current trends in threats to high-profile individuals.
For more information on customized threat tracking for at-risk individuals, threat assessments, executive protection, or other security services, please contact us.
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Summary
The TorchStone Executive Protection Report tracked 23 new domestic and 28 new international security incidents impacting high-profile individuals during the month of April 2024. Note that the Executive Protection report includes “Other Crime” now as a separate category from Attack and Harassment. This category covers incidents such as financially motivated crimes and those with inconclusive motives.
- This year’s election cycle in Mexico continues to be one of the most violent on record. Spanish news outlet El Pais had recorded 30 candidates murdered, 77 threatened and 11 kidnapped as of April 26. The violence already exceeds levels recorded during the 2018 and 2021 elections and there is still a month to go. In addition to attacks on mostly local politicians, protest groups are also using violent tactics against national and state government offices. Journalists are also targets of violence.
- The ongoing conflict in Gaza is motivating activists around the world to challenge business executives, government offices, and community leaders. TorchStone recorded at least 12 incidents in April that were linked to opposing Israel or supporting the Palestinian cause. Incidents targeted individuals ranging from federal lawmakers to university presidents, and tech executives. As protests intensify on campuses across the United States and abroad, we anticipate more threats, harassment, and attacks targeting high-profile individuals over the situation in Gaza.
- Finally, TorchStone is introducing a new format to this month’s report. Based on feedback from readers, we are organizing this month’s report based on target type rather than geographically. We are also including headers above each incident providing a quick overview of the geographic location, tactic used, and venue of the attack. We look forward to your feedback and continue to strive to make this product better.
Business Executive
| Location: Sunnyvale, CA | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Office |
April 16, 2024: Police arrested nine Google employees and forcibly removed them from the company’s offices after they demanded to speak to Google CEO Thomas Kurian and occupied his office. Google fired 28 employees who participated in a sit-in demonstration protesting the company’s business ties to Israel at Google’s Sunnyvale, Seattle, and New York executive offices. Employees have protested and criticized the company’s ties to Israel since 2021 when “Project Nimbus,” a cloud computing contract between Google and Amazon with the Israeli government, began.
| Location: San Francisco, CA | Tactic: Other Crime | Venue: Home |
April 27, 2024: Police located Mint Butterfield, the 16-year-old daughter of San Francisco Bay Area tech executives, on April 27 in San Francisco. Mint Butterfield disappeared from her home in Bolinas on April 21 and was considered “at-risk” at the time. Her father is former Slack CEO, Stewart Butterfield. Investigators determined that Ms. Butterfield voluntarily ran away. Police arrested a 26-year-old man she was found with on child abduction charges.
| Location: Encino, CA | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Home |
April 29, 2024: Three assailants shot and wounded a private guard at a security post outside the home of XO records founder, Amir Esmailan. The attack occurred at around 2:30 am. The guard was hospitalized and is expected to recover. There are no indications that the assailants tried to gain access to the home. Police said that four people were in the home at the time of the shooting, including Mr. Esmailan, but there were no other reported injuries. Police are searching for the gunmen.
| Location: Santa Monica, CA | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Home |
April 29, 2024: Demonstrators gathered outside University of Southern California President Carol Folt’s residence in Santa Monica to protest her response to the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. Dozens of protesters marched in front of her home chanting and waving Palestinian flags.
Celebrity
| Location: Houston, TX | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Public Area |
April 1, 2024: According to multiple news reports, individuals fatally shot Luis Alfredo Pacheco Rojas, 34, who was known as the music rapper El Pikante, in southeast Houston at a convenience store in what police described as a targeted attack by a rival criminal gang. He was the son of Alfredo Pacheco, who leads the lower house in the Dominican Republic’s legislature.
| Location: Monte Carlo, Monaco | Tactic: Other Crime | Venue: Public Area |
April 4, 2024: Professional tennis player Sebastian Korda was robbed in Monte Carlo while competing in the Monte Carlo Masters. The robbery occurred near the competition’s courts in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin commune when “two helmeted individuals” approached Korda while he waited near a staircase. Korda was not injured, and the suspects escaped on a scooter with Korda’s €300,000 Richard Mille wristwatch.
| Location: Mumbai, India | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Home |
April 7, 2024: Two gang members in India were arrested for a gun attack targeting the home of Bollywood star, Salman Khan. The two suspects are members of the Bishnoi gang. Khan had angered the gang when he killed two antelopes over twenty years ago. The Bishnoi gang is a part of a religious sect that believes antelopes to be sacred. No one was injured during the attack when two men fired five rounds at Khan’s apartment in Bandra, before the attack the suspects had rented a room near the apartment for a month and had followed Khan’s movements.
| Location: Nigeria | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Digital/Online |
April 8, 2024: A social media user apologized to Nigeria gospel singer Nathaniel Bassey after the singer made official complaints about malicious rumors circulating online alleging that he had an affair with another gospel singer. Mr. Bassey accused four Facebook users of defamation and cyber-stalking in connection with spreading the rumors. Mr. Bassey dropped the charges against one of the accused individuals after he publicly apologized for his involvement. However, charges remain against the other three individuals.
| Location: Los Angeles, CA | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Home |
April 8, 2024: The son of singer Frankie Valli filed a restraining order against his brother, Francesco, for threatening the family. Valli’s younger son had claimed Francesco was making harmful threats directed towards himself and their father recently. The request was filed on April 8 after Francesco attempted to break into the eldest Valli’s property on April 5. It’s noted in the filing that since Frankie cut Francesco off financially, the threats have become more serious, in addition to increased attempts to access his father’s property and selling his personal property. As a result of the filing, the court has ordered Francesco to refrain from having contact with his dad or brother and must stay 100 yards away from them.
| Location: Hollywood Hills, CA | Tactic: Other Crime | Venue: Home |
April 8, 2024: Law enforcement is investigating a burglary attempt at the Hollywood Hills residence of TV personality and influencer Joey Zauzig located on the 1600 block of Marmont Lane in the early morning hours. LAPD responded to a burglary in progress incident and indicated the intruders entered the home by breaking a sliding glass door while Mr. Zauzig was home. Police said it was unclear what the suspects stole before fleeing the property.
| Location: Utah | Tactic: Stalking | Venue: Home |
April 10, 2024: YouTube influencer, Summer McKeen, revealed in a video on her channel that a stalker had reached out to her in private messages and even showed up outside her family’s home over the past two years. McKeen revealed that she has reported the incidents to the police and has filed for a restraining order. The video generated debate over whether social media personalities should acknowledge their stalkers or ignore them and deny them the attention they seek.
| Location: New York, NY | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Public Area |
April 22, 2024: Actor Alec Baldwin was confronted and harassed by a social media content creator about his involvement in the fatal shooting on the set of Rust. The content creator known as “Crackhead Barney,” who has been described as an “ambush interviewer,” filmed the interaction on her mobile phone which Baldwin would later knock out of her hand after repeatedly asking him to say, “Free Palestine” and “**** Israel.” The content creator also harassed Baldwin about “jail time” as he is set to face trial in July for an involuntary manslaughter charge stemming from the shooting on set.
| Location: Los Angeles, CA | Tactic: Other Crime | Venue: Home |
April 23, 2024: Police are investigating a burglary at the daughter of actress Kyle Richards, Farrah Aldjufrie’s residence in Los Angeles. LAPD responded to a burglary in progress incident at around 1 pm and indicated the intruders entered the home by breaking the front door while Ms. Aldjufrie was not at the residence. Furthermore, the LAPD indicated that jewelry and high-end handbags were taken. The perpetrators deliberately severed Wi-Fi cables, presumably to disable security cameras.
Federal Government
| Location: Florida | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Digital/Online |
April 1, 2024: A judge sentenced a man in Florida to 14 months in prison for leaving threatening voicemails targeting U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Roberts. The man originally left the voicemail messages in July 2023 and was arrested in August. The 2023 voicemail threat was just one of 457 incidents of serious threats against judges in the United States, according to the American Bar Association (ABA). In a separate report, the ABA revealed that serious threats against judges doubled from 2019 to 2023.
| Location: Jaipur, India | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Digital/Online |
April 2, 2024: Police in India have begun investigating messages sent to Ramcharan Bohra, the BJP MP for Jaipur, that included death threats. Bohra received an email on April 2 that stated, “Delhi is still far away. Wherever we meet you on the way, we will kill you.” Once receiving the email Bohra filed a complaint with the Jawahar Circle police station, a special team from the police is now investigating the case with the help from the cyber cell and technical teams.
| Location: Abuja, Nigeria | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Home |
April 3, 2024: The Labour Party of Nigeria claimed a fire that destroyed the home of its national chairman, Julius Abure, was an assassination attempt. Authorities have not corroborated that claim. Neighbors and security guards woke up the family and alerted them to the fire shortly after 1 am on April 3, allowing them to escape and survive.
| Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Office |
April 4, 2024: Police arrested a 29-year-old homeless man who attempted to enter the Argentinian presidential office complex to attack the president. During his arrest, the man yelled, “I am God and I am going to kill the President.” Police discovered multiple edged weapons on him at the time of his arrest, including an eight-inch-long knife.
| Location: Burlington, VT | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Office |
April 5, 2024: A California man was arrested for setting fire to the door of Senator Bernie Sanders’ office in Vermont while multiple staff members were working inside. Surveillance film shows a man on camera spraying lighter fluid on the door of the third floor of Sanders’ office at approximately 10:45 a.m. Senator Sanders was not in the office, but multiple members of his staff were working there at the time of the fire. The fire “engulfed the door,” impeding the exit path of staff members until Burlington Fire Department crews put out the fire. The suspect is facing federal charges of using fire to damage a building used in interstate commerce and as a place of activity affecting interstate commerce. He faces 5 to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted. Authorities are still investigating a motive.
| Location: United Kingdom | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Digital/Online |
April 5, 2024: UK police opened an investigation into a sexting scam targeting British lawmakers after a Minister of Parliament revealed he was coerced into handing over his colleagues’ personal phone numbers. The MP indicated that a man he had met on a gay dating app threatened to release compromising material on him if he did not hand over the information. The incident led to a series of explicit messages being sent to British lawmakers that appeared to come from trusted contacts—possibly as part of an effort to collect additional compromising material on British politicians. The MP has publicly apologized and announced that he would not run for another term in the next election. Investigators have not publicly revealed the suspect behind the scam, nor their motive.
| Location: Prague, Czech Republic | Tactic: Stalking | Venue: Public Area |
April 6, 2024: Taiwanese and Czech officials accused a Chinese diplomat of following Taiwan’s Vice President-elect Hisao Bi-khim during her visit to Prague. The officials claim that a suspicious car ran a red light trying to follow Hsiao’s motorcade from the airport to the city center on April 6. Police stopped the car for the infraction and discovered that the driver worked in the military office of the Chinese embassy. The driver’s exact intent remains unclear, but Chinese government operatives abroad have been known to engage in espionage, pursuing targets ranging from Chinese dissidents to tech workers.
| Location: Mumbai, India | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Digital/Online |
April 7, 2024: An MP from the area around Mumbai sought out police protection after party leaders discovered an audio clip circulating encouraging others to shoot the MP. India is in the midst of nationwide elections that began on April 19 and will run through June 1. There is a strong precedent of violence during Indian elections.
| Location: London, UK | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Office |
April 8, 2024: Twelve protesters belonging to the Youth Demand Group were arrested after defacing the Labour Party headquarters with red paint. The activists sprayed paint at the party’s central London headquarters in support of an arms embargo on Israel. Police arrested several of the protesters for criminal damage.
| Location: London, UK | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Home |
April 9, 2024: Protesters gathered outside the home of UK Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, calling on him to support an arms embargo on Israel. The protesters placed dozens of children’s shoes outside his home along with a banner that said, “Starmer Stop the Killing,” referencing the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza during the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Leading politicians in the UK such as Rishi Sunak and James Cleverly criticized the protester’s choice of venue. Three people were arrested at the demonstration under Section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.
| Location: London, UK | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Office |
April 10, 2024: Pro-Palestinian protesters from Youth Demand and Palestine Action sprayed red paint on the outer walls of the Ministry of Defense in London. Following the incident, five people were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. The incident follows a trend of groups like Youth Demand and Palestine Action spraying paint at political offices while calling for an arms embargo on Israel.
| Location: Papua New Guinea | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Digital/Online |
April 14, 2024: Another member of the opposition party in Papua New Guinea’s parliament received a threat against him and his family. On April 14 MP Keith Iduhu said he received a threat via WhatsApp “from an unknown number warning me and suggested they know the whereabouts of the place of residence of my family and me.” When informing the police about the threat Iduhu noted that the same number has issued threats to other people who have opposing views from the majority party. Iduhu received the threat not long after alternative prime minister nominee Allan Bird also received threats against his life due to his campaign against incumbent Prime Minister James Marape.
| Location: Gillingham, UK | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Office |
April 15, 2024: Two men threw glass bottles and eggs at a Kent MP’s office in Gillingham on April 15. Conservative MP Rehman Chisti said the two men had their faces covered and that his office had handed over CCTV footage to police after the incident. Chisti said he received a death threat recently and commented that “if somebody doesn’t agree with you, they are going to use intimidation, threats, and violence.” There was no damage reported to Chisti’s office.
| Location: Kansas | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Digital/Online |
April 16, 2024: A grand jury in Wichita, KS, charged a woman with making threats to current and former nationally elected officials after she was indicted. The 40-year-old woman was charged with one count of threats against a former president of the United States, and one count of threats against President Biden. These charges stem from when the suspect was accused of leaving messages that threatened former president Clinton’s life while calling the Clinton Foundation in September of 2021 and in 2024 when she made murder threats on social media directed at President Biden. The U.S. Secret Service is still investigating.
| Location: New Zealand | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Office |
April 17, 2024: A recent study from the University of Otago showed that harassment and abuse towards politicians are rising in New Zealand. Of the 54 MPs surveyed, 98% reported experiencing harassment, 40% claimed they received threats of physical violence, 14% received threats of sexual violence, and 19% had threats made against family members. Some MPs also shared specific stories such as one MP experiencing someone going to their office with the intent to stab them. Another MP was assaulted on the way to work. Women have faced threats at a higher rate than their male counterparts leading to 69% of female respondents saying they are concerned for their safety compared to 33% of men. Despite the nature of these threats, politicians are not surprised by the findings as more MPs have become vocal about the harassment and abuse sent towards them.
| Location: Brussels, Belgium | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Other Restricted Area |
April 17, 2024: During the European Defense & Security Summit in Brussels, a man attempted to place the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, under citizen’s arrest while she was speaking at the summit. David Cronin, a well-known Palestinian activist, stood up while von der Leyen was speaking and proclaimed, “Mrs. Von der Leyen, I am performing a citizen’s arrest. You are charged with aiding genocide in Gaza. The blood of Palestinian children is on your hands”. Security quickly escorted Cronin out as he shouted that von der Leyen is a “criminal” and called to free Palestine. The same man attempted to place former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman under citizen’s arrest in 2011 and attempted the same against former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2010.
| Location: Washington, D.C. | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Other Restricted Area |
April 17, 2024: Activist group Climate Defiance shut down a gala honoring Senator Lisa Murkowski and promoted the disruption on the group’s X account. The video shows the protesters on stage as security teams tried to remove them and several people fell off the stage during the chaos. The protesters chanted anti-fossil fuel slogans while on stage and claimed that the Senator is an “ecocidal pyromaniac” due to her stance on oil drilling in Alaska.
| Location: Warsaw, Poland | Tactic: Stalking | Venue: Other Restricted Area |
April 18, 2024: Polish authorities arrested a man on allegations of being ready to spy on Russia’s behalf in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The man faces up to eight years in prison if convicted for being prepared to pass security information about the Rzeeszow-Jasionka airport, a key gateway from Poland to Ukraine due to its proximity to the country. Ukraine notified Polish authorities and provided critical evidence for the case.
| Location: Phoenix, AZ | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Digital/Online |
April 20, 2024: A Phoenix man was arrested on two counts of influencing a federal official by threat and one count of cyberstalking after making a series of threats against a federal judge in Arizona. Investigators say in 2020, the man began to contact the judge about a 2016 case, making approximately 300 phone calls to a federal courthouse and sending 89 emails to the judge. Additionally, the man used phone calls to other government offices to make threats towards the judge. In March 2024, he made a call saying he would hit the judge’s “knees with a baseball bat” and called the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct four days later threatening to hang the judge outside her building. The suspect was arrested in Oregon in March and has been sent to Arizona for a hearing in May.
| Location: Singapore | Tactic: Other Crime | Venue: Office |
April 20, 2024: Police in Singapore are investigating a series of letters containing “distasteful” photos along with threats of extortion targeting several politicians and dozens of others. One recipient of the extortion demands, Edward Chia an MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, described receiving an altered image with his face superimposed over a “distasteful photo.” The Straits Times reported that over 70 people had received similar letters of extortion that included digitally altered photos of themselves in “lewd” poses in March and April 2024. These letters arrived at the recipients’ workplaces with instruction that if they did not contact the e-mail addresses given, they would face “threatening consequences.” Mr. Chia explained that public figures have faced similar extortion scams in the past, but the increase in popularity of deepfakes has made it easier to falsify images, making it hard to distinguish reality from fiction.
| Location: Jipijapa, Ecuador | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Public Area |
April 21, 2024: Unknown gunmen killed the director of the Manabi region prison five days after he assumed the position. A group opened fire on the director as he was having lunch with his family. At least one other person was injured in the attack. The assassination coincided with Ecuador’s national referendum on increasing security measures to fight against a dramatic increase in crime over the past year.
| Location: Georgetown, TX | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Office |
April 22, 2024: Protesters vandalized U.S. Representative John Carter’s office in Georgetown, TX with red paint on the front door and “Free Gaza” spray painted on the sidewalk. Authorities released images of the persons of interest wanted for criminal mischief, they also believe the persons of interest are responsible for the vandalization of the nearby Williamson County Courthouse and local Republican Party headquarters. The estimated cost of cleaning the damages to Carter’s office was around $2,000.
| Location: New York, NY | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Home |
April 23, 2024: In response to the Senate passing a $95 billion emergency foreign aid package to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine, anti-Israel dissidents staged a “Seder on the street” demonstration in front of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn home. Images showed a large group of protesters urging Schumer to end U.S. weapons shipments to Israel. NYPD made several arrests.
| Location: San Francisco, CA, TX | Tactic: Other Crime | Venue: Public Area |
April 25, 2024: U.S. Representative Adam Schiff reported that thieves took his bags from his vehicle while it was parked in a downtown San Francisco parking garage. It is unclear if the suspects knowingly targeted Rep. Schiff.
| Location: Cardiff, UK | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Public Area |
April 26, 2024: Pro-Palestine protesters pursued MP Jacob Rees to his car after a speaking engagement at Cardiff University. Although he was chased by the demonstrators and the protest was condemned by other politicians, Rees-Mogg commented that it was a “legitimate and peaceful if noisy protest.” The Welsh Underground Network and Cardiff Communists, who are not affiliated with the university, organized the protest. It was unclear if any students were involved.
State Government
| Location: Murmansk, Russia | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Public Area |
April 4, 2024: Russian authorities detained a man after he stabbed and wounded the governor of Russia’s Murmansk region during a local town hall meeting. After surgery, doctors determined that the governor should be able to make a full recovery. The motive of the attacker remains unclear.
| Location: Chilpancingo, Mexico | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Office |
April 8, 2024: Protesters angry over the 2014 disappearance of 43 students in rural Mexico set fires at the state government building in Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state. Fires destroyed at least a dozen cars in the building’s parking lot. Protesters also ransacked the state office building where the governor’s office is. The organizers behind the protest came from Ayotzinapa Teachers’ College and were the same organizers behind the March attack on the National Palace in Mexico City.
| Location: Montgomery, Alabama | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Office |
April 10, 2024: Police arrested a man in Irondale accused of detonating an explosive device outside the office of Alabama’s Attorney General in Montgomery early in the morning of Saturday, February 24. Investigators found multiple stickers in the vicinity of the Attorney General’s office promoting Antifa, a militant left-wing “anti-fascist” movement active around the world. The explosive device appears to have been constructed from a coffee can containing an accelerant, a mortar, firecrackers, and nails. The explosion did not harm anyone or cause significant damage. The 26-year-old suspect faces federal charges for using an unregistered destructive device.
| Location: Minneapolis, MN | Tactic: Stalking | Venue: Home |
April 15, 2024: A candidate for the Minnesota House of Representatives District 12B, Judd Hoff, is facing allegations of harassing the district’s current representative, Mary Franson. There have yet to be any charges filed against Hoff, but he has been accused of stalking and harassing Rep. Franson, digging through her trash, posting her contact information and address online (doxing), filming her residence, and sending her threatening messages. Hoff’s record shows a number of incidents with the law: in 2021 Hoff wielded a machete at a man who had torn a flag off Hoff’s vehicle leading to a second-degree felony assault conviction. Dating back to 1991, Hoff had also been convicted of several other crimes including multiple counts of disorderly conduct and property damage.
Local Government
| Location: Celaya, Mexico | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Public Area |
April 1, 2024: Mayoral candidate Gisela Gaytan was shot and killed at a campaign rally in Celaya, Guanajuato. The motive for the killing is unclear, but Guanajuato has a high homicide rate, which is exacerbated by turf wars between criminal groups. Guanajuato state prosecutors stated that they are investigating the killing, but no arrests have been made.
| Location: Grants, New Mexico | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Office |
April 8, 2024: Local authorities arrested a man armed with an axe who threatened to kill a county judge. The threat caused a temporary lockdown of the Cibola County Courthouse. Authorities arrested the suspect shortly after he had exited his vehicle outside the courthouse, armed with an axe. The suspect had previously threatened a judge over the phone. He is being charged with attempted murder, threatening a judge, and making telephonic threats.
| Location: Utrecht, Netherlands | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Digital/Online |
April 10, 2024: Police arrested a 53-year-old man for making a violent threat against an Utrecht municipality mayor. The man allegedly said, “The mayor should get a bullet in the head,” during a phone call. According to the man’s lawyer, he immediately apologized. Despite the apology, the mayor went to the police and reported the threat to press charges. The suspect’s lawyer said the motive for the threat was the suspect’s concern over the Houten Hub, a location where asylum seekers who arrive in the Netherlands will be housed if approved by a City Council vote.
| Location: Bakersfield, CA | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Other Restricted Area |
April 10, 2024: Local police removed a woman and arrested her after she threatened Bakersfield City Council members during a meeting where activists urged city officials to pass a resolution for a cease-fire in Gaza. The woman told city council members, “We’ll see you at your house, we’ll murder you,” at which point Bakersfield Police removed her from the meeting. The woman later pleaded not guilty in her court appearance where she faces ten counts of threatening with the intent to terrorize a public official and eight counts of threatening specific public officials, which included all but two council members at the meeting who did not consider themselves victims because they did not feel threatened.
| Location: New York, NY | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Restricted Area |
April 16, 2024: Supporters of the group Planet Over Profit stormed the stage while New York Mayor Eric Adams was speaking, accusing him of prioritizing the rich over working-class New Yorkers. Protesters called for a new mayor during the incident.
| Location: Bogalusa, LA | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Other Restricted Area |
April 16, 2024: Bogalusa mayor Tyrin Truong is pressing charges against a city council person who threatened to shoot the mayor at a previous council meeting.
| Location: Portovelo, Ecuador | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Public Area |
April 19, 2024: The mayor of Portovelo, Jorge Maldonado, was shot dead by two assailants on a motorcycle becoming the second mayor in Ecuador to be killed days before a nationwide referendum on addressing crime. The killing occurred while the country is in a state of emergency due to the energy crisis that is causing blackouts of up to 13 hours. Maldonado is now the third Ecuadorean mayor to be assassinated in April, each from gunshot wounds, and the fifth overall this year.
| Location: San José Independencia, Oaxaca, Mexico | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Public Area |
April 19, 2024: Alberto Garcia, who was running for mayor in the town of San Jose Indepencia in Oaxaca, was found beaten to death in an area of town noted for its gang activity. A total of 17 mayoral candidates in Mexico had been killed in the buildup to June 2 elections, making this election cycle the most violent on record.
| Location: Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas, Mexico | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Public Area |
April 19, 2024: Mayor Noe Ramos Ferretiz of the National Action and Institutional Revolutionary Parties was killed while running for reelection in Ciudad Mate. Authorities are still investigating the death, but local media has reported that Ferretiz was stabbed.
| Location: Los Angeles, CA | Tactic: Other Crime | Venue: Home |
April 21, 2024: Authorities arrested a man suspected of breaking into the home of Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass. The suspect gained access to the home by breaking through a glass door. Police were not sure if Bass was intentionally targeted by the suspect. Bass and her family were home at the time of the break-in, but the family was unharmed.
| Location: Miami, FL | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Other Restricted Area |
April 22, 2024: A fellow passenger on New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ flight from Miami to New York admonished the mayor for his lack of support for Palestine. The passenger recorded the interaction on video and posted it to social media. The passenger began by confirming the mayor’s identity then proceeded to berate him with profanities and criticism that he “supports the genocide in Palestine.”
| Location: San Jose, CA | Tactic: Harassment | Venue: Public Area |
April 23, 2024: A plainclothes police officer on the San Jose Mayor’s protection detail got into a physical altercation with a passerby during a TV appearance by the mayor. During the mayor’s interview with a local TV station, a pedestrian approached the mayor and stood next to him. After the protection officer asked the man to move away, the passerby engaged in a verbal altercation with the officer, which eventually escalated into a physical altercation. Police eventually arrested the suspect and charged him with felony battery of a police officer.
| Location: Arcola, TX | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Office |
April 23, 2024: Fred Burton, the mayor of Arcola, TX, was sent a package that included a noose and a letter demanding he withdraw from the upcoming mayoral election where he seeks a third term. Arcola Police posted an image of the noose and letter on Facebook, the letter read, “Get out of the race now!!” Burton has faced recent criticism for his attempts to oust a city council member, which resulted in a lawsuit against him, and his use of a private Facebook page used to share information with Arcola residents. Burton’s opponent, Dr. Veeda Williams, is skeptical that the package is authentic. Williams also pointed out the package’s listed return address does not exist. The Arcola Police Chief acknowledged Williams’ allegations and said the police did find “several inconsistencies with the package.” Arcola Police are still looking into the matter with requested assistance from the FBI.
| Location: Cheshire, UK | Tactic: Verbal/Written Threat | Venue: Office |
April 23, 2024: A UK man was sentenced to over four years in prison after being found guilty of four counts of making threats to kill and six counts of sending malicious communications at Birmingham Crown Court. The man wrote letters to a Chester Crown Court judge who sentenced him for stalking in 2019, those letters included racist, homophobic, and neo-Nazi content. After his jailing in 2019, the man met another inmate from Newcastle who had been serving time for fraud and had been sentenced by the same Chester Crown Court judge, after his release he was defrauded by the inmate from Newcastle leading him to seek “the ultimate revenge.” Under the name of that inmate, he sent death threats and abuse to the sentencing judge in addition to three prison governors who oversaw the jails he served time in. Authorities arrested him after finding the letters were posted hundreds of miles from where the former inmate from Newcastle was living.
Community Leader
| Location: Sydney, Australia | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Public Area |
April 15, 2024: Police arrested a teenager for attacking a priest and a bishop at a church in western Sydney. The attacker entered the church, which police stated is not near his residential address, armed with a “flick knife” and stabbed both the priest and bishop. The police commissioner stated that after consideration of the evidence, the incident has been labeled a terrorist attack. The attacker has no known connection to organized crime or terrorist groups.
| Location: Mexico City, Mexico | Tactic: Attack | Venue: Public Area |
April 26, 2024: Mexican journalist Roberto Figueroa was found dead inside a car in Huitzilac, just outside Mexico City. He was reported missing on April 26, 2024, after being abducted by gunmen after taking his daughters to school. The kidnappers subsequently demanded a ransom, but Mr. Figueroa was killed despite Figueroa’s wife delivering the payment to the kidnappers. Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists worldwide, with 141 Mexican journalists killed since 2,000, with 61 of those 141 killed in retaliation for their work.