“You’ll probably die.” : politics

FTA:

Rollins, the first Black woman to serve as US attorney for Massachusetts, has said threats against her have grown more vicious since her Senate confirmation vote earlier this month during which Republicans attacked her as a dangerous, pro-criminal prosecutor. A blatantly racist e-mail sent to the Suffolk district attorney’s office on Dec. 9 warned that “SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE IS PLOTTING TO PUT ONE IN YOUR FACE OR HEAD!!!

“You’ll probably die … I don’t have the (nerve) to outright kill someone … but keep going and you will find one (who does have the nerve) … I hope,” said the e-mail, which Rollins turned over to the US Marshals Service for investigation.

But the Marshals Service, which protects federal officials, declined to provide Rollins with a security detail after investigating the threats, the two people said. One author of a threatening e-mail apologized, the two people said, and marshals concluded Rollins was at low risk.

…

Marshals do not routinely provide security to federal officials but do offer extensive protection for those deemed to face serious threats. For example, the marshals provided extensive around-the-clock protection for then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos after she was heckled and blocked by protesters in 2017, according to published reports.

Rollins, who has served as Suffolk district attorney since 2019, has had a dedicated Boston Police executive protection unit, whose members drive her and provide security. She also has the use of a car. As US attorney, she is not entitled to protection, a car, or a driver. She is also taking a pay cut — from $191,000 to $172,500.

Rollins declined to comment on her disagreement with the marshals, but she has spoken publicly about the threats against her.

“A lot of people don’t recognize [that] as women and as women of color, and particularly as a Black woman, the level of racist, hate-filled death threats that we receive,” Rollins said in a recent appearance on GBH’s “Radio Boston.” she said.