Editor's note: Be forewarned that this story includes antisemitic threats, hate speech and slurs.
A former Humboldt County planning commissioner is expressing growing distress at way authorities are handling the case of a 33-year-old Arcata man who allegedly made violent, antisemitic threats against him, his family and Jews in general.
Lee Ulansey, a local businessman who served on the Planning Commission for four years and founded the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights, penned a letter to District Attorney Stacey Eads earlier this month after learning the suspect in the case, Daniel Epperson, had been released from custody while awaiting trial without Ulansey or his family having been notified.
"I'm sure that there are all sorts of reasons, bureaucratic foul ups, mistakes, and plenty of blame to go around for your office putting my family in danger. None of them are acceptable," Ulansey wrote in the letter, warning that if the office continues to be "derelict" in its obligation to protect crime victims, it "will be responsible for getting someone killed."
The case — and its handling — has drawn interest from numerous national and international anti-hate organizations, according to Ulansey, including Stand With Us, which bills itself as a "nonpartisan education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism."
Humboldt County Sheriff's deputies arrested Epperson on March 13, more than two months after Ulansey reported that he and his son, Joshua, had received a long string of antisemitic death threats aimed at them specifically and Jews generally on social media.
According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant in the case, Ulansey reported the threats Jan. 8 and later provided the sheriff's office with scores of screenshots of direct messages Epperson allegedly sent his son as well as posts to a public page. Among those quoted in the affidavit: "Hitler should have done a better job," "I will kill your dad," "He is a nigger," "Lee Ulansey is a Jew ass nigger," "Die, Jews," "Fuck the goddamn Jews," "Lee Ulansey must die" and "Lee Ulansey will die soon." Ulansey's letter to Eads quotes more, including direct messages to his son ("Your piece of garbage dad will die," "You should have been put in a concentration camp before you were born") and public posts ("More Jews need to die," "Die Jews," "I'm ready, are you Jews?").
Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal told the Journal back on Feb. 13 that his office had conducted an investigation into the alleged threats and forwarded it to the District Attorney's Office for review, later saying it had been returned for additional investigation. In the affidavit, detective Scott Hicks indicates he was assigned to follow up Feb. 27, searching out Epperson's social media page and reinterviewing Ulansey.
According to the affidavit, Ulansey told Hicks that Epperson is the son of some friends and he's known him most of his life, saying the two had never previously had issues.
"Lee Ulansey stated he believed the only basis for the threats made towards him was his ethnicity," Hicks wrote in the affidavit. "Lee Ulansey stated that he believes Daniel Epperson was capable of causing him or his family harm."
The affidavit goes on to note that Ulansey was aware of Epperson having been involved in a violent assault previously, and having made antisemitic threats to others.
Ulansey and his son, who was serving in the Israel Defense Force at the time of the threats, both told the detective they and the rest of their family were staying outside Humboldt County due to concerns for their safety, according to the affidavit.
While the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office recommended felony charges in the case, the district attorney's office charged Epperson with four misdemeanor counts of criminal threats and committing a hate crime. Epperson pleaded not guilty to all counts on March 13, and two days later was granted release from jail on his own recognizance, though he would remain held for weeks due to the arrest having triggered probation violations in prior cases.
District Attorney Stacey Eads said she was unable to discuss charging decisions in ongoing, active cases, but said generally a number of factors impact how to charge cases in which prosecutors believe the evidentiary burden has been met, including the degree of injury to any victims, the criminal history of the perpetrator, the number of victims, the overall gravity of the offense, the frequency of the alleged criminal conduct and its level of sophistication, available intervention measures and potential outcomes.
"Ultimately," she concluded, "we must adhere to our professional and ethical duties as we seek to protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and achieve fair and just outcomes."
In a May letter to Eads, Ulansey expresses some frustration at difficulties getting in touch with someone at the office about the case and says he was distressed to learn Epperson's attorney had indicated he would attempt to get the "nominal misdemeanor charges" dismissed in a diversion agreement that would see Epperson enter an outpatient counseling program.
"The threats and comments that were made by Mr. Epperson provide exponentially more notice than virtually any school shooter or synagogue burner," Ulansey wrote, urging Eads to "vigorously and aggressively" prosecute the case. "He has told us what he's going to do and put us on very clear notice of what will happen if we fail to act."
In an April 11 motion seeking to postpone a court hearing, the deputy public defender assigned to Epperson's case wrote, "After discussing this case with Mr. Epperson, I am informed and believe that Mr. Epperson suffers from mental health issues that would qualify for mental health diversion pursuant to Penal Code Section 1001.36."
The referenced code allows certain defendants to enter a treatment program under an agreement with prosecutors that if they successfully complete it and stay out of trouble, the initial charges will be dropped.
In his letter, Ulansey argued that Epperson's were the "kind of threats" that felony statutes "were designed to address" and urges an aggressive prosecution that will make clear to anyone interested "that hate speech and threats will not be tolerated, at least not in Humboldt County."
Ulansey followed up with Eads earlier this month, saying it was with "considerable distress and profound concern" that he was writing to her "yet again." In the letter, Ulansey explained that while he'd been told repeatedly by Eads' office that his family would be notified if Epperson were released from jail, he'd come to learn he'd been released weeks earlier, on June 10, with Ulansey's family left unaware.
"It now appears that he has been out of jail for weeks without anyone letting me know," Ulansey wrote. "As you are aware, my family and I have stayed away from the Eureka area as a result of the specific death threats and hate speech from Epperson."
Ulansey went on to recount how despite these safety concerns, his wife had traveled to Humboldt County on urgent business in June.
"Because of your personal assurance and that of your staff on multiple occasions that we would be notified in advance we felt this was safe," he wrote. "By sheer luck, my wife left Eureka a day and a half before Epperson was released."
Ulansey went on to detail his frustration at getting conflicting answers from Eads' office as to Epperson's custodial status and the reason for his release, also charging that a deputy district attorney had made an appearance in the case "completely unprepared and unaware of any of the issues surrounding this case."
Yael Lerman, director of Stand With Us' legal department, said the organization assisted Ulansey in finding a pro-bono attorney to consult with him about Epperson's criminal case after Ulansey raised concerns about the threats he'd received and "how the local prosecutor was handling the matter." (The attorney declined to be interviewed for this story.)
Lerman did not discuss details of the case with the Journal, but said such cases of antisemitic threats are on the rise nationally and in California.
"It is critical that local authorities and prosecutors understand that when unlawful threats have an antisemitic component, they not only target their direct recipients, but impact the Jewish community at large and could result in physical violence," Lerman wrote in an email to the Journal.
Ryan McClurg, the deputy public defender representing Epperson in the case, said he would need to get permission from his client before commenting and was unable to do so by the Journal's print deadline.
Epperson is due back in court Aug. 22 for a trial confirmation hearing, with a trial date tentatively set for Sept. 3.
Thadeus Greenson (he/him) is the Journal's news editor. Reach him at (707) 442-1400, extension 321, or thad@northcoastjournal.com.