John Washington III Says the Answer Is Not Threats but a Government That Answers to the People
Responding to a Michigan man charged with allegedly threatening FBI Director Kash Patel, John Washington III drew a hard line between Americans' right to challenge their government and threatening a life — and argued the deeper problem is a government that expects respect without accountability.
John Washington III condemned threats against public officials on Saturday while arguing that a case in Michigan points to a deeper failure of trust between Americans and their government. A Michigan man has been charged with allegedly threatening to kill FBI Director Kash Patel, and John Washington III opened his statement on the case in capital letters: "AMERICA, WE HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM, AND IT GOES MUCH DEEPER THAN ONE MAN THREATENING AN FBI DIRECTOR!"
John Washington III said every American has the right to challenge their government, criticize elected officials and speak out against corruption — and that none of that crosses into what he condemned. "THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STANDING UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS AND THREATENING SOMEONE'S LIFE!" he wrote. He said he does not support threats, violence or intimidation against anyone, whether an ordinary citizen, a police officer, an FBI director or the president of the United States.
The statement then turned from the threat to the frustration behind it. When citizens become frustrated with their government, John Washington III wrote, the country should be asking why so many Americans are losing trust in the institutions created to serve and protect them — institutions that, in his words, are supposed to work for the people, not the other way around. "BUT I ALSO DO NOT SUPPORT A GOVERNMENT THAT EXPECTS RESPECT WITHOUT ACCOUNTABILITY!" he wrote, adding that nobody should be above the law, including the people enforcing it.
He closed with the remedy he has made the center of his 2028 presidential campaign: protect freedom of speech, uphold due process, demand transparency and hold public officials accountable without resorting to violence. "THE ANSWER IS NOT TO THREATEN THE GOVERNMENT. THE ANSWER IS TO MAKE THE GOVERNMENT ANSWER TO THE PEOPLE!" John Washington III wrote. The American people, he said, deserve a government they can trust — not one they fear or feel powerless against. He signed the statement as a 2028 presidential candidate.
