A Boca Raton woman has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after a jury found she was guilty of threatening to shoot FBI agents who planned to interview her about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
FBI agents were tipped off 10 days after the Capitol attack that Suzanne Ellen Kaye, 61, claimed she was there, a criminal complaint said. Her Facebook page, where the tip said Kaye shared “anti-Biden” and “anti-Democratic” posts, had a display name of “Angry Patriot Hippie.”
Agents called Kaye to arrange an interview in late January 2021, the complaint said. During the call, Kaye denied having gone to D.C. on Jan. 6 but said she knew people who did, and she agreed to speak with them if they came to her home because she couldn’t drive.
Three days later, Kaye posted a video on multiple social media platforms and told her followers about the FBI’s request. She said she would exercise her “second amendment right to shoot your [expletive] a– if you come here,” referring to the FBI agents, the criminal complaint said.
Someone sent the FBI a link to Kaye’s threatening video on Facebook on Feb. 8, the complaint said. The FBI reviewed the video and Kaye’s Instagram and TikTok accounts the next day, finding the same video posted on the three platforms.
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A jury found Kaye guilty of one count of interstate transmission of a threat to injure in June 2022, court records said.
Kaye’s attorneys argued that she did not take any action that would substantiate the threat, like buying a gun, making more threats or recruiting others to help her, court records said. The defense said their client posted the videos simply for “content” for her “TikTok family” and did not direct the videos or send the videos to the FBI.
“Indeed, agents did not even bother to apply for a search warrant to search her home to look for a firearm,” Kaye’s defense attorneys wrote in one court filing. “Mrs. Kaye did not possess a firearm and made no efforts to acquire one in the several weeks after her videos were posted. She never intended to carry out any threat against the FBI.”
Federal prosecutors said Kaye had plenty of time to think before she posted the videos online. One of the videos played “Every Breath You Take” by The Police in the background, court records said.
“She chose that song specifically to send a message to Agent Smith that she is watching him,” federal prosecutors wrote in the court filing. “She had three days to deliberate over her actions and plan the content of her threatening messages after Agent Smith first contacted her.”
Kaye must surrender herself to begin her sentence on July 13.
Angie DiMichele can be reached at adimichele@sunsentinel.com, 754-971-0194 and on Twitter @angdimi.