The threats against Cary Crites’s family started right after his brother’s name flashed across television screens Saturday night for sparking a major security scare at a Trump rally in Nevada.
Cary, who lives in Alameda, California, shares the same last name as Austyn Crites, the 33-year-old self-described Republican from Reno who says he was attacked for holding a ‘Republicans against Trump’ sign. Secret Service agents rushed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump off the stage when someone yelled out that Crites had a gun. No weapon was found, and Crites was eventually released, but not before he was placed in handcuffs by police and searched.
“For someone like me, this particular event will in fact change the rest of my life,” Crites, an Eagle Scout, told the Reno Gazette-Journal. It’s not just Crites’ life that has changed forever. His parents, brother and sister-in-law have all been targeted by pro-Trump groups, and even received death threats.
“People are doxing my family and releasing our address for attacks,” said 33-year-old Jolene Hayes, who is married to Cary Crites.
In a message being passed around on pro-Trump sites with their address, one commenter says: “By now either a) burnt to the ground, or b) riddled with bullet holes.”
One message threatened that “when Trump becomes president he’s going to have us killed,” Hayes said.
“My husband has screenshots of the direct messages,” Hayes said. “Our parents had to disconnect their phone and change their email address because they were getting so many calls and emails. Luckily the address listed on these sites is an old address, so no one has showed up to their current residence. I feel bad for whoever lives in their old house.”
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Hayes said the harassment has not gotten worse over the weekend. “It seems to have mellowed out to the family — 24-hour news cycle and all that. We’re still getting some weird comments. It’s only been a day or two since this all happened. So it might be too early to really say if they will stay mellow. I think if Trump loses Nevada, we might catch it again.”
Hayes is in touch with their brother-in-law, who had to take down his Facebook page because of all the threats and comments he was receiving, but is now back to being active on the social media platform, answering questions about why his name shows up on Wikileaks (He says it’s because of a years-old book purchase and newsletter subscription to a company called “Stratfor,” which provides geopolitical analysis and whose security was compromised, resulting in his information being released online.
Hayes and her husband have received an outpouring of support from friends, family, neighbors and even complete strangers on their Facebook page.
In a Facebook post Sunday, Hayes wrote: “This whole thing has been intense. Although our family has been receiving many threats and insults, I want to point out that the most striking thing that we have experienced is the outpouring of love from our community. As my dad always says, ‘Evil prevails when good men do nothing.’ It's nice to know there are more good than evil. <3 to you all. 2 days until this insanity is over! Please let us all live with the results in peace.”
She continues to vociferously support her brother-in-law on Facebook, defending his actions: "We need to stand together and NEVER, ever let Trump become President. We all need to vocally condemn this behavior by candidates. And then vote against them and for candidates who embrace true American ideals: "Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, etc."
Hayes has not contacted Alameda police yet. A spokesperson for the police department said they have not been made aware of any reported incidents involving the Crites.
“I kind of just want all this to go away.” Hayes said.
