Samantha Ness has been identified as the woman who wrote a tweet that referred to killing Brett Kavanaugh.
Ness is an employee at the Alliance Education Center in Intermediate School District 917 in Rosemount, Minnesota. Though her tweets have since been deleted, a web cache of her Twitter account reveals that she tweeted on Saturday (following Kavanaugh’s Senate vote), “So whose going to take one for the team and kill Kavanaugh?”
She later followed up with a subsequent tweet, “Brett kavanaugh will be dealing with death threats for the rest of his life being on the Supreme Court. I doubt my mid-west ass is a real threat.”
Here’s what you need to know.
1. Ness Is on Leave From Her Job Pending the Outcome of an Investigation
Ness has since deleted her Twitter account, but several of her photos and tweets are still available, having been saved by users. It’s unclear what grade Ness teaches; however, she has been put on leave by the district’s superintendent, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Mark Zuzek, the superintendent of the district, said in a statement, “Over the weekend, the district has received a complaint regarding an employee. The employee has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Pursuant with the data practices act, we are limited to providing additional information regarding this matter.”
2. Ness Has Deleted All of Her Social Media Accounts in the Last 24 Hours
Samantha Ness TwitterNess’s most recent tweets, prior to deleting her account.
In the wake of her tweet going viral, Ness has deleted her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. However, several users were quick to grab screenshots, and the Google cache for her Twitter account still reveals her most recent tweets.
Prior to deleting her account, Ness’s Twitter bio read, “I don’t even know what I’m upset about.”
Her most recent tweet was posted late Monday morning. She wrote, “Being called a fat ugly c*nt by a random guy on Twitter is probably the highlight of my entire life.”
3. The Alliance Education Center Is a School for Children With Special Needs in Rosemount, Minnesota
According to its site, the Alliance Education Center is a program for students from ages 5-21 who have special needs. The program description reads,
“This program provides services to all students with unique needs who require a low student-to-staff ratio. The SUN program offers students the opportunity to work on academics as well as functional, transition, and social skills. There are 2 different classroom models to address the varying levels of student need. One model is a small group of 6 students served by a team of 1 teacher and 3 paraprofessionals. The other model is our individual setting serving 6 students each with their own office space as well as a space for group work. The group is served by a teacher and 6 paraprofessionals.”
The school is part of Intermediate School District 917.
4. Pro-Kavanaugh Twitter Users Have Exploded in Anger Against Ness’s Threat
A Rosemont teacher by the name of Samantha Ness.@lookitsSammm
is INCITING MURDER of a US CITIZEN and SCOTUS.
We DEMAND SHE IS IMMEDIATELY FIRED AND WALK OUT of her SCHOOL, NOW!!
In the wake of Ness’s threat to Kavanaugh, predominantly conservative Twitter users have signaled their outrage at the threat, and have demanded that she be fired from her job as a teacher as a result.
Some alt-right and conservative websites have even gone so far as to publish her teaching license information, her phone number, and the information of the school that she works at.
Whether its #SamanthaNess or #JordanHunt It’s clear #LiberalsAreEvil And prison is your fate…And even though #Twitter is #liberal maybe they could shut down liberal hate mongers! #Liberals #LiberalismIsAMentalDisorder #JudgeKavanaugh #Minnesota #Canada
5. The FBI Has Confirmed That They Are Looking Into the Threat
According to KARE11, the FBI has since confirmed awareness of the post by Ness, and that the bureau is “looking into” the threat. What’s more, Zuzek confirmed to KARE11 that the district received many calls and complaints by parents over the last few days about Ness’s tweet.
Ness has yet to make a public statement, in the wake of her suspension.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that Ness worked for the Rosemount School District, also known as District 196. The school she works for is affiliated with Intermediate School District 197, not District 196, and Ness is not and never has been an employee of District 196.