LANSING?? Daniel Callahan, 59, of Fruitport, appeared in 61st District Court on April 6, 2023, to face charges of False Report or Threat of Terrorism and Using Computer to Commit a Crime, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced. Both offenses are felonies that are punishable by up to 20-years in prison.
?These are serious charges based on serious threats. Anyone who threatens or tries to intimidate government officials or public bodies will be held accountable,? Nessel said. ?My office will continue to respond to these types of threats wherever they occur.?
Callahan?s case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General?s Hate Crimes and Domestic Terrorism Unit. The charges against him stem from comments he allegedly made during oral arguments in another case. On February 15, 2023, while appearing before the Michigan Court of Appeals 3rd District Court in Grand Rapids for a separate issue, Callahan allegedly expressed frustration with the government by asking on the record, ?What is it going to take, somebody to get shot before the State acts on it??
On February 23, 2023, Callahan allegedly filed a pleading in the same case, stating that if the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court did not act ?lawfully,? and grant his requested relief, they and other entities would earn a ?future Performance Award for MSU Stage Act 2, West Michigan 2023.?
His pleading was understood by court employees to be a threat to commit a mass shooting similar to the one that had occurred at Michigan State University ten days prior to the filing of his pleading.
In his subsequent pleadings, Callahan expressed a grievance towards the Department of Attorney General and Attorney General Nessel specifically, referencing the AG by name multiple times. His filing calls for the AG to be removed from office and prosecuted.
After the charges were filed, Callahan turned himself in at the 61st District Court on a $500,000 bond with a GPS tether.
Callahan was arrested on March 4, 2023, on the following charges:
