Couple Charged With Threatening Armed Citizen Who Shot Their Son in Self-Defense

As Bearing Arms reported last week, a shooting on the campus of Kentucky State University earlier this month wasn’t an act of aggression, but a case of self-defense. A grand jury declined to issue any charges against Jacob Bard, who shot and killed a 19-year-old and wounded another as a violent mob attacked him and his family as they were trying to move Bard’s son out of a KSU dormitory. 

Ahead of the grand jury’s decision, Bard’s attorneys released a statement detailing their client’s version of events, as well as laying out the threats that Bard and his family have received since the shooting. 

The mother of the deceased student has openly called for the murder of Jacob’s son for revenge, requested the help of criminal gangs including the Vice Lords criminal gang, and yet no criminal charges have been filed against her. Jacob and his family continue to receive credible death threats, and Jacob’s sons are now residing in a non-disclosed location for their safety.

Well, that statement needs to be updated, because the woman is facing charges, and so is her husband. Chardnae Cleveland and De’Jon Darrell Fox are both facing charges of intimidation in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, though bond in their cases was set at just $1,500. Amazingly, in its coverage of their arrest, USA Today never described those threats in detail, referring only to “a probable cause affidavit” that says “Fox and Cleveland left comments on Facebook that ‘were perceived as threats’ against Bard and his family.”

What were those comments? WDRB used the same probable cause affadavit to provide some much-needed details. 

A probable cause affidavit filed in Vanderburgh County showed Fox allegedly made graphic threats against Bard on social media under a screen name of “Capo Fatman Fox.” One post that was still online on Friday said in part “YOU DONTKNOW WHAT U TOOK FROM ME BUT YOU WILL FEEL THE SAME HURT I FEEL.” 

In court records, police quoted a public post from Cleveland that said in part “I want his son dead just like mine.”

Another post from Cleveland that police said had been deleted was quoted in the affidavit as saying “Might drive to Evansville today to see some vicelords!” Police noted in the document that the statement was concerning because the Vice Lords are a prominent criminal street gang known for violence and organized crime.

Now, I wouldn’t refer to that last statement as Cleveland “requesting” the help of the Vice Lords, as Bard’s attorneys claimed. But these online statements do suggest that Cleveland and Fox were aiming to retaliate against Bard for killing their son. 

Grief is a powerful thing, and even if De’Jon Fox was one of those assaulting Bard’s son when he was killed, I understand that Cleveland and Fox are grieving the death of their son. But when that grief is channeled into retribution, or even insinuations of retaliation, a legal line has been crossed and there should be consequences for those statements. 

Given the accounts of mob violence on December 9 and the allegations by Bard’s attorneys that there were “multiple armed, violent felonies (including burglary, breaking and entering, physical assault, and attempted assault with a deadly weapon) against Jacob’s sons and other students in the days leading up” to the defensive gun use, I’d still like to see Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear initiate a full investigation into Kentucky State University, its campus security, and measures to keep gangs off campus. Beshear, though, has been utterly silent on the incident since December 9, when he issued a statement that read, in part, ““Pray for a world where these things don’t happen, and I’ll keep trying to build the Kentucky that we don’t see arguments ended in violence.”

Kentuckians should be praying for a governor that doesn’t want to sweep mob violence under the rug or let the state’s public universities become lawless enclaves where students can prey on their classmates. Pro-2A lawmakers should also revive their efforts to adopt a campus carry law, so that students and faculty who can legally carry a gun off campus can continue to bear arms in self-defense when they’re on campus as well. 

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