MIAMI, Fla. – A Jackson Memorial Hospital nurse is under arrest for allegedly recording videos where she threatened to kill U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
Niviane Petit Phelps of Miami Gardens, who has worked at the hospital since 2001, reportedly then sent the videos to her husband who is in prison in Crawfordville, Fla., according to court documents.
Documents also show that there were five videos sent and also two photographs. The videos depicted Phelps complaining and speaking angrily to the camera about her hatred for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a United States Secret Service complaint.
Phelps sent the videos to the prison using JPay, an app that provides communication between incarcerated individuals and the non-incarcerated. JPay’s app limits video sent to 30 seconds. The five videos that Phelps allegedly sent were 30 seconds in length, according to the criminal complaint.
In a video dated Feb. 13, 2021, Phelps stated, according to the affidavit: “Kamala Harris, you are going to die. Your days are numbered already. Someone paid me $53,000 just to f--- you up and I’m gonna take the, I’m gonna do the job, okay.”
On Feb. 14, 2021, a video from Phelps stated: “I’m going to the gun range, just for your a--, until you f------ leave the chair.”
On Feb. 18, 2021, Phelps said: “And f----- Kamala Harris, I swear to God, today is your day you’re gonna die. 50 days from today, mark this day down , stupid b----, Kamala f-----’ Harris vice president. You gonna f-----’ die 50 days from today. I swear to f-----’ God! Your day is . . .(cut off).”
Photographs show Phelps at a shooting range dated Feb. 20, 2021. On Feb. 22, 2021 she applied for a concealed weapons permit, according to a United States Secret Service agent.
Local 10 News spoke with Phelps’ mother, Herodia Petit, who said she believes her daughter thought that if former President Donald Trump were re-elected, he would have been able to get her husband out of jail. Now Herodia is asking the current president and vice president to forgive her daughter. “My daughter didn’t mean it,” she said. “I don’t know where this thing coming from. I vote for Joe Biden,” Herodia said, adding that the family votes Democrat.
Jackson Health System said they are aware of the arrest and suspended Phelps without pay.
Local 10 News requested a statement from Jackson Health System.
“Niviane Petit Phelps had been employed at Jackson Health System since 2001. In the last couple of years, she worked as a licensed practical nurse at the Ambulatory Care Center West at Jackson Memorial Medical Center. She has been suspended without pay while we process her employment termination.”
When investigators interviewed Phelps at her home, she said she was “angry at the time about Kamala Harris becoming vice president, but that she is “over it now.”
A secret service agent who interviewed Phelps said she expressed how she believes that Harris was not actually “black” and how during the inauguration, Harris disrespectfully put her hand on her clutch purse instead of the Bible, according to a portion of the criminal complaint.
Threatening government officials of the United States is a felony offense under federal law. If Phelps is found guilty, she could face up to five years in federal prison in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 871.