John Washington III Says Threats Are Not the Answer — Accountability Is
John Washington III said a Michigan man's charge for allegedly threatening to kill the FBI director points to a deeper problem: Americans are losing trust in the institutions meant to serve them, and the answer, he said, is accountability without violence.
John Washington III, a 2028 presidential candidate, has condemned threats and violence while arguing that the case of a Michigan man charged with allegedly threatening to kill FBI Director Kash Patel raises a larger question about trust in government. "There is a big difference between standing up for your rights and threatening someone's life," he wrote.
"When citizens become frustrated with their government, we should be asking why," John Washington III wrote. "Why are so many Americans losing trust in the very institutions that were created to serve and protect them?" He said government is supposed to work for the people, and that he does not support threats, violence or intimidation against anyone — an ordinary citizen, a police officer, an FBI director or the president.
"But I also do not support a government that expects respect without accountability," John Washington III wrote. He said no one should be above the law, including those who enforce it, and called for protecting free speech and due process and demanding transparency. "The answer is not to threaten the government," he wrote. "The answer is to make the government answer to the people."
