Local man accused of ‘Hang Joe’ comments
Faces charge over incident during Pontiac vote recount
LIVONIA — A Livonia man who is accused of threatening to hang an Oakland County election official for “treason” has been charged with making a false report of terrorism.
Andrew Fred Hess, 37, made the comment during a vote recount that took place in Pontiac on Dec. 15, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a Monday release.
He is accused of walking out of the recount and shouting “Hang Joe for treason,” in reference to Oakland County Director of Elections Joe Rozell, McDonald said.
According to the prosecutor’s office, a bystander heard the comment and reported it to local police.
“The integrity of our elections is essential to democracy,” McDonald said. “We need dedicated, ethical public servants to conduct that process, and to do it transparently – we should invite public scrutiny.
“But there are individuals who seek to undermine the integrity of the election process by threatening and intimidating election workers and supervisors. Those threats don’t just impact our election workers, they put our democracy at risk, and they will not be tolerated.”
Hess faces up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $20,000.
It was not immediately clear whether Hess had retained an attorney. He had not yet been arraigned early Monday afternoon.
At press time, the court hadn’t scheduled an arraignment for him yet.
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Contact reporter Shelby Tankersley at stankersle@hometownlife.com or 734-3110659