Olympia man accused of threatening prosecutors

An Olympia man is being accused of sending threatening emails to prosecutors, causing them to fear for their safety.

Olympia police arrested Jared J. Bailey, 38, on December 8, a day after the Olympia City Prosecutor reported that staff had been receiving threatening emails from the suspect.

A prosecutor told police that Bailey is a defendant representing himself in a case they are prosecuting. The prosecutor added that Bailey’s emails, typically sent around 1 to 2 a.m., have escalated in the last few months.

In his most recent email, Bailey spoke of the Moorish Sovereign Citizens, a militia supposedly granted authority by the Supreme Court to charge entities in Olympia, according to an officer who read the messages.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal advocacy group, describes the Moorish Sovereign Citizens as an extremist group whose “adherents… believe that individual citizens hold sovereignty over, and are independent of, the authority of federal and state governments.”

The police said Bailey appeared to be part of this group.

A portion of Bailey’s most recent email read, “Should you be convicted of treason by a grand jury, the Supreme Court reserves the right to recommend the death penalty, and we will not suffer you any lethal injection.” The suspect also threatened to demand “upwards [of] $6 billion per each [sic] defender.”

“Indeed we had given these people chance or opportunity to repent and they did not: now then these people have been duly notified; and are mistaken then, to believe themselves above the law,” Bailey said in his email.

Prosecutors said the emails have caused them to fear for their safety, as they believe that Bailey is capable of inflicting harm.

One prosecutor told police that he has started to look around him when it is dark outside to ensure he is safe from Bailey, while another said she makes sure to have a view of the door whenever she is out in public.

An officer went to Bailey’s address but did not find him there. The suspect’s landlord told police that he was in the process of evicting Bailey.

Officers returned to Bailey’s address the next day. Authorities found the suspect getting ready to smoke on his front steps. He was informed that he was under arrest for felony harassment.

When the officers were in the process of putting restraints on Bailey, he started to tense and flex his arms and was warned to stop resisting arrest. He was detained without further incident.

CORRECTION, March 9, 2023:  An earlier version of this story misspelled Mr. Bailey's last name. We regret the error.