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‘You are going to die’: former nurse pleads guilty to threats against VP Kamala Harris

‘You are going to die’: former nurse pleads guilty to threats against VP Kamala Harris

September 15, 2021
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A former nurse in Florida is facing a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to harassing Vice President Kamala Harris with threatening videos. 
Admission of guilt: On Friday, 39-year-old Niviane Petit Phelps confessed in Miami federal court to six counts of making threats against Harris, reported Miami Herald.
  • The mother of three, who was arrested last April, admitted to applying for a concealed weapons permit and practicing at a gun range, a Secret Service complaint revealed.
  • Phelps was caught because she sent her imprisoned husband two photos and five videos of her screaming and ranting over the results of the 2020 election.
  • “Kamala Harris, you are going to die,” the defendant said in a video dated Feb.13. “Your days are numbered already.” 
  • “If I see you in the street, I’m gonna kill your ass, Kamala Harris,” she proclaimed in a Feb. 14 video. In another video, she said, “I’m going to the gun range, just for your ass, until you f—kin’ leave the chair.”
  • She claimed she had accepted $53,000 to carry out an assassination against Harris that she planned to complete within 50 days, the Associated Press reported. 
  • One of the images shows Phelps holding a pistol next to a target peppered with bullet holes. The other photo had Phelps’ teenage son also carrying a gun.
  • During the trial, Phelps acknowledged that the prosecutors would successfully convict her beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Brewing hate: After charges were filed against her in April, Phelps was suspended and eventually lost her job at the Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she worked for 20 years as a nurse.
  • When authorities questioned Phelps about the two photos and the five threatening videos she sent her husband, she said she “just does not like her,.” referring to Harris.
  • Phelps, who is Black, said she made the threats because Harris, of Black and South Asian descent, wasn’t “actually Black.”
  • She was also angry at Harris over a false belief that she placed her hand over her purse instead of the Bible when she was sworn in as vice president.
  • Phelps’ lawyer, Scott Saul, told Miami Herald that the defendant was just venting to her husband with no plans on following through on her threats. 
  • “[She] was just venting as she was going through a tumultuous time in her life,” Saul said, noting that the threats were “limited to discussions with her incarcerated husband.”
Found by a judge to be a “danger to the community,” Phelps is currently being detained while awaiting her sentencing before the U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez on Nov. 19.
Featured Image via WPLG Local 10 (left), Forbes (right)
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      Ryan General

      Ryan General is a Senior Reporter for NextShark

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