Man Threatened Ocean County Judge, Other Officials With Gruesome Deaths: Federal Complaint

LACEY, NJ — A Lacey Township native has been indicted on federal charges after sending hundreds of threatening emails to numerous local and state government officials, according to a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on Sept. 25.

Jonathan Lipman, who currently resides in Los Angeles, is being held in federal prison until his trial as he poses a risk to others, according to court documents provided to Patch.

The charges stem from a May 2022 incident where Lipman posted threatening comments on the official Lacey Township Police Department Facebook page. Police then filed for an "extreme risk protective order," which barred Lipman from owning any firearms, according to court documents.

This sparked a belief in Lipman that the government was violating his federal rights, prosecutors said, and he began sending harassing emails to various government officials.

Beginning on or around Feb. 1, 2023, Lipman began sending threatening emails to Lacey Municipal Judge Benjamin Mabie, Ocean County Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill, Lacey Township Board of Education attorney Bruce Padula and others.

These emails described in explicit detail how Lipman hoped these officials would die gruesome, painful deaths, documents say.

In one email to Rahill, Lipman attached a photo of what appeared to a lever action shotgun with the subject "Is a photo illegal?" according to court documents. The body of the email was blank except for a winky face emoji.

On one day, he sent 96 emails to officials, documents say. He often either signed these emails with his name or there were other indications that the emails came from him.

Police went to Lipman's Los Angeles residence on July 13, 2023, where Lipman said he would continue to send the emails.

Less than two weeks later, Lipman had sent another 11 emails to Rahill, according to court documents.

As of Sept. 22, Lipman had sent about 400 emails just to the officials mentioned in the filing. The majority of these were violent and harassing in nature.

One email to Rahill said “But as you struggle to breath or what ever consequence your selfish little life befalls you body and betrays your existence, you will remember me. You concerns about where you are headed are warranted. Some call it hell.”

In another email, Lipman addressed Oceanport Police Chief Michael Kelly, writing “Michael Kelly, I pray he is ran over in a traffic stop. The world would be better off if chief Michael Kelly became one with the pavement like a crushed bug.”

In another email to Rahill, Lipman graphically wrote about her death, and ended it with “Now of course this is just a fantasy. No crime has ever been committed. Nothing has been threatened. No threats had even been instituted.”

Police executed a search warrant on Lipman's residence on Sept. 15, where an external hard drive and several documents were seized.

Lipman was warned that the emails were likely a violation of federal law, according to court documents, but he continued to send them up until he was taken into custody.