Man held in threat to Trump Jr., others
WORCESTER, Mass. — A Massachusetts man was charged Thursday with sending threatening letters with white powder to five people, including one to Donald Trump Jr. that landed his wife, Vanessa, in the hospital.
Daniel Frisiello, 24, was arrested at the Beverly home he shares with his parents and is being held pending a detention hearing Monday. His attorney, Scott Gleason, called his client “an overwhelmed young man” and said he will plead innocent in the case.
Authorities said Frisiello sent five envelopes last month filled with profanity-laden letters and white substances, which turned out not to be hazardous. The envelopes were postmarked in Boston.
The letter to the president’s son was opened by Vanessa Trump on Feb. 12. She was briefly hospitalized after she called 911 and reported she was coughing and felt nauseous. The Trump letter included a message that said: “I am surprised that your father lets you speak on TV.”
Other recipients were Debbie Stabenow, the Democratic U.S. senator from Michigan; Nicola Hanna, an interim U.S. attorney in California; Michele Dauber, a Stanford University law professor who has promoted the effort to recall Judge Aaron Persky; and Antonio Sabato Jr., the Republican former underwear model and soap opera actor who is running for a U.S. House seat in California.