Ex-Phoenix resident gets prison time for 2023 death threats against Biden, Harris

PHOENIX – A former Phoenix resident was sentenced Monday, March 2, to over two years in prison for making death threats against then-President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2023, authorities said.

A judge sentenced 44-year-old Michael David Hanson of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to 27 months in prison to be followed by three years of probation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

Hanson was originally indicted on 10 counts before he pleaded guilty to making threats against the president and successors to the presidency.

He lived in Phoenix in November 2023 when he posted a series of statements on one of his X accounts, including one that said, “#joeAndKamala I’m asking you to resign on Monday your alternative is death brutally murdered,” according to prosecutors.

U.S. Secret Service reached out to Hanson and warned him that such online statements are a federal crime, but he posted similar threats the next month.

“Online death threats made against leaders of the United States are criminal acts, not protected speech,” U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said in a press release. “The U.S. Secret Service and Phoenix Police Department are to be commended for quickly identifying and arresting Mr. Hanson.”

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