FBI investigating threats against COVID-19 complaint filers in Washington
May 11, 2020, 6:57 AM | Updated: 9:57 am
(MyNorthwest photo)
(MyNorthwest photo)
There is another ugly side of the COVID-19 outbreak amid the state’s ongoing stay-at-home order, with the list of people filing complaints against violations of the order recently being made public on social media.
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Bellevue made the biggest splash on this, when it unveiled an app that would allow you to report people or businesses to the city that you thought were violating the stay-at-home orders. That includes reports against groups playing together at a park or a business that someone didn’t think was essential.
The list of people that filed similar complaints around the state has been released, likely the result of a public records disclosure request. Now those people are getting threatening phone calls and emails.
The Seattle Times reports two Facebook pages have gone up posting all the information about those who filed complaints.
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Several people who have received those nasty calls or emails said they wish they had known their personal information was subject to public disclosure when they filed their complaints. They said they never would have filed a complaint had they known.
The FBI has been called in to investigate the threats.
