PAGE, AZ — A man from Page, Arizona, was arrested Monday after a Facebook post threatening violence amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Page Police Department says officers were made aware of a social media post before 8 p.m. The post was threatening toward Navajo community members and the suspect believed all “Navajo” are infected with the virus.
Officers identified the suspect as 34-year-old Daniel Franzen, a Page resident.
Franzen was arrested shortly after and booked into the Coconino County Jail on a felony charge.
“The Page Police Department recognizes the alarming nature of this incident and shares the justified concern this behavior has caused the Navajo community, and others. The police department wishes to remind community members that unlawful hate speech, especially that which singles out protected classes (race, religion, gender, etc.), will be aggressively investigated and violations will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible,” the department said Tuesday morning.
