Man Threatened Judge, Court Employees On Facebook: State Police

MIDDLETOWN, CT — A Cromwell man with a previous conviction for threatening, faces new charges after state police say he made threatening posts on Facebook that called for the killing of judges and court employees. Police arrested Edward “Ted” Taupier, 52, on a warrant Friday following an investigation that began in January.

The investigation was launched on Jan. 25 when workers at the Middlesex Judicial District Court clerk’s office alerted state police to posts that Taupier made on Facebook that threatened judges and staff and sometimes named specific people, according to the arrest warrant application. (To sign up for Middletown breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

According to the affidavit, Taupier wrote in a Facebook post on Jan. 9: “I JUST GOT NOTICE OF CONTEMPT FROM THE STATE WEB SITE WITHOUT GETTING OFFICIAL SERVICE, I GUESS THE JEWS THAT RUN THE MIDDLETOWN CLERK’S OFFICE [names redacted] DON’T NEED TO GET OFFICIAL SERVICE TO SCHEDULE A HEARING. THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO START KILLING WITH LOVE THOSE THAT VIOLATE THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF SOCIETY THAT ARE JUDGES WHO HAPPEN TO PRACTICE THE JEWISH FAITH.”

Also, on Jan. 8, state police said Taupier wrote the following post: “CROMWELL POLICE DUPED BY MENTALLY ILL EX TO THINK CHILDREN ARE ENDANGERED...THEY SAY THEY DON’T NEED WARRANTS TO COME IN HOME......POLICE DON’T NEED WARRANTS, THEY WILL NEED BODY BAGS NEXT TIME.”

The arrest warrant affidavit also included a post on Jan. 9 that read: “KILL COURT EMPLOYEES AND SAVE THE COUNTRY.... Stop driving the SUV and save a planet....this is what a liberal would say.”

The arrest warrant affidavit alleges that the posts, in addition to other posts from Jan. 11, 12 and 14, were “threatening in nature.”

“These posts threaten the Cromwell Police Department, call for the killing of judges, court employees and burning of the courts,” according to the affidavit. “This affiant also believes that these posts advocate, encourage and incite violence against persons and property. In addition, Edward Taupier has been previously arrested for similar crimes to include Threatening 1st Degree, Disorderly Conduct and Breach of Peace 2nd Degree by the State Police.”

Taupier was sentenced in January 2016 to 18 months in prison for threatening to shoot a family court judge who was overseeing his divorce case, according to the Hartford Courant. Taupier appealed the conviction, arguing that criticism of the courts is protected by the First Amendment.

In the most recent case, Taupier was charged with two counts of inciting injury to persons or property and one count of second-degree threatening. He was held on a $200,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 14.

Taupier’s attorney Norm Pattis told NBC Connecticut that while the words were “ugly,” Taupier was not actually threatening anyone and called the arrest an “overreaction to a man’s heartbroken frustration with the family court system.”

Pictured: Edward “Ted” Taupier, 52, of Cromwell / via Connecticut State Police