By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com


The investigation related to a social media threat made by a state employee about burning down the City of Howell is continuing.

Following the May killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer, protests in support of Floyd and against police brutality sprung up across the country, including in Livingston County. On Twitter, one tweet gained attention, reading “the first city to burn in michigan should be howell, all in favor say I.” The woman accused of posting the message is a forensic psychiatry employee with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Public Information Officer Lynn Sutfin said the issue was investigated and disciplinary action taken against the employee, but declined to detail what that was.

Despite Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy calling the tweet a non-credible threat, Howell Police filed a report with the Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office seeking charges of making a terrorist threat. The case was returned to Howell Police for further investigation.

Chief Scott Mannor said a warrant request was submitted against an individual for the online post but that request was done prematurely before a complete investigation was conducted. He says the department is in the process of doing that investigation, which includes interviews and obtaining search warrants to obtain necessary and critical evidence regarding the online posts. Once the investigation is complete, Mannor says it will be resubmitted to the Prosecutor’s Office for review.