Michigan AG Charges Two Residents with Terrorism for Threatening State Officials
Source: X | @MIAttyGen
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on September 21, 2026 announced terrorism charges against two state residents who separately threatened to kill the governor, members of the state Supreme Court, the secretary of state, and the mayor of Dearborn. One defendant's threats were explicitly anti-Arab and anti-Muslim in language and targeting.
ANALYSIS
The Michigan Attorney General's (AG) office arraigned Alicia Choucair, 33, of Roseville, and Anthony Dekinderen, 61, of Lake Orion on September 19, 2026, on separate terrorism-related charges. Choucair faces two counts of making a false report or threat of terrorism and one count of committing a hate crime. Dekinderen faces nine counts of making a false report or threat of terrorism, each a felony carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Choucair allegedly called police dispatch and threatened a mosque and Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud using language that targeted the city's Arab and Muslim residents. Dearborn has one of the highest concentrations of Arab Americans in the country, and Hammoud has been a recurring target of anti-Muslim threats since his election.
Dekinderen allegedly emailed threats to kill the Michigan Supreme Court justices, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to a Michigan journalist. The nine-count indictment spans multiple separate communications. Both defendants were arraigned before the public announcement on September 21.
Michigan officials have documented a sustained pattern of threats against state government. Whitmer was the target of a federal kidnapping conspiracy in 2020 involving militia members. Benson has received repeated security threats tied to her administration of elections. The AG's decision to charge both cases under terrorism statutes rather than lesser threat offenses raises the sentencing exposure significantly and signals a prosecutorial shift: political threats in Michigan are no longer being treated as routine criminal matters.
SOURCES
