A Havertown man was charged Tuesday with terroristic threats, ethnic intimidation and related crimes after prosecutors say he left racist, threatening voicemails for the Delaware County sheriff.
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Sean Keenan, 40, made 15 calls earlier this month to the sheriff’s office in a 24-hour period, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. Keenan left two voicemails, during which he used a racial slur to refer to Sheriff Siddiq Kamara, who is Black, threatened to hunt him down, and called for “death to Islam.” Kamara is a Muslim whose family came to Delaware County from their native Liberia.
Keenan was released on $100,000 unsecured bond. There was no indication he had hired an attorney. Keenan did not return a request for comment.
In announcing the charges, Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said Keenan’s words were “vile, disgusting, and completely unacceptable.”
“There is a time when language crosses the line into criminal behavior, and that is exactly what we have here,” Rouse said. “Threats of violence, most especially racially motivated violence, have no place in Delaware County, regardless of who the intended victim may be.”
Kamara, in a statement last week, said he welcomes criticism as a public official, but that threats of violence cross the line.
Investigators said they used phone records to trace the numbers that made the call to two phones registered to Keenan, according to the affidavit. One of those numbers called 911 in February to report a car crash, and a recording of the caller’s voice matched Keenan’s.
After serving a search warrant on Keenan’s personal and work-issued cellphones, detectives found evidence that he had left the voicemails on July 18 and July 19, the affidavit said. In an interview with police, Keenan admitted to leaving the voicemails, the document said.
He is scheduled to appear before a district judge for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 7.
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