Lt. Gov. Henderson gets more death threats over Primary signature gathering issues — How will they be handled?

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — After a meeting of the Utah legislature’s Rules Review and General Oversight Committee that discussed the Cox campaign’s signature gathering, critics of Lieutenant Governor Deidre M. Henderson have taken to social media to voice their disapproval via comments that included death threats.

At the May 22 meeting, the committee discussed changes to Utah’s signature verification process. Two supporters of Phil Lyman, including his running mate Natalie Clawson, were each given 10 minutes to present to the committee where they repeated claims that Gov. Spencer Cox’s campaign did not gather enough signatures during the 2024 election, and accused Lt. Gov. Henderson’s office, which contracts signature verification with the Davis County Clerk’s Office, of malfeasance.

On May 27, Sophie Anderson, a former plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking access to sensitive election materials that Utah’s appellate court ruled are protected, posted a photo of Lt. Gov. Henderson on X/Twitter and mentioned her account, asking, “What should be the penalty for those who defraud elections?” The post elicited approximately 80 responses in roughly 24 hours, with some users saying Henderson committed treason, others saying she should face time in jail or prison, while others called for harsher punishments, including death.

Several users posted GIFs or photos of nooses, another posted a photo of an electric chair, and some responses simply said “Death” or “Public executions.” ABC4.com reached out to the lieutenant governor’s office, which said the office does not comment on her security.

The online threats against the Lt. Governor were posted roughly a week after a man was arrested for allegedly stalking and harassing Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. ABC4.com spoke with the Utah Department of Public Safety about how it responds to online threats.

Captain Tanner Jensen, the director of the Statewide Information Analysis Center at the DPS, said each threat posted online is taken “very seriously.”

“With this situation, it’s concerning — very serious — and we don’t take these types of threats lightly,” Jensen said of the threats to the Lt. Governor.

Jensen said that analysts and agents evaluate online posts to see if what is posted is protected by the First Amendment or if it is a “true threat.” He also said there is a difference between those “true threats” and “political hyperbole.”

Each post is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and then it is determined if continued monitoring is needed for the users who made those posts. Jensen said there are ways to monitor and assess threats, and to analyze the behaviors of people to see if there is a “pathway to violence.”

“We definitely pay close attention to our elected officials in Utah and understand that they are a target of threats,” Jensen said.

He said that DPS is often notified by social media companies when the platforms identify potential threats. Another way that the department learns of concerning posts is when members of the public raise concerns.

“If you see something suspicious and concerning, please let law enforcement know, and we’ll evaluate it,” Jensen said.

Jensen encouraged the community to “stand up against this type of threatening language and hate.”

Abigail Jones and Nick Butts contributed to this report.