James Quattrone

The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a series of letters sent to local municipalities falsely claiming that Sheriff James Quattrone has declared Martial Law and that residents were required to surrender all “assault weapons.”

The May 1 dated letters, which include the Sheriff’s Office letterhead with the names of the sheriff and undersheriff, were made to look like an official press release, and reportedly have been sent to at least a half dozen local town and village clerks offices. The name of a sheriff’s deputy is also mentioned.

“I have no idea what a motive is,” Quattrone told The Post-Journal on Wednesday, “but it does appear that this person has some sort of grudge against this deputy and myself.”

The letter claims Quattrone has issued an order declaring Martial Law, and by doing so requires residents to surrender any AR-15-style guns no later than Dec. 31 or face confiscation of all legally owned firearms.

No such order has been made.

The fake press release also mentions Gov. Andrew Cuomo and alludes to purported threats to his life.

“Please feel free to advise your contacts that this is a bad and potentially dangerous prank,” the sheriff said in a post on Facebook. “We will be investigating and if possible will be prosecuting the individual or individuals responsible for the letter.

“For the record, I am pro-Second Amendment and believe our constitutional rights need to be protected in all circumstances.

“This was received in a town clerk’s office who contacted our office. The town clerk will be notifying other clerks of this prank. Should anyone receive such a letter please leave unopened and contact our office and we will pick it up for processing.”

A similar letter was sent to local town clerks offices in August 2019. In that one, obtained by The Post-Journal, the same sheriff’s deputy is mentioned and warns of dangers to the governor if he were to travel within Chautauqua County.

The governor’s office was notified at the time of the letter and its threats.

Quattrone said investigators were trying to determine if the two letters were written by the same person.

“My fear is that when the community hears about ‘warrantless searches’ it puts our deputies in danger,” the sheriff said, later adding, “We don’t want people to believe that Martial Law is going on now. People who know me know I have no desires to infringe on constitutional rights.”