• D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
  • Riyadh
  • Beijing
  • SG
  • D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
Semafor Logo
  • Riyadh
  • Beijing
  • SG


Man who allegedly vowed to target Biden during Utah visit killed in FBI raid

Updated Aug 9, 2023, 4:22pm EDT
politicsNorth America
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
PostEmailWhatsapp
Title icon

The News

A Utah man under investigation for allegedly making “credible” threats against U.S. President Joe Biden was shot and killed during an FBI raid Wednesday, ABC News reported.

Officials began investigating the man in April, and the Secret Service was notified in June. The man was said to have made threatening online posts and suggested he was planning to take physical action against Biden and others, according to ABC.

The threats had been deemed credible, leading the FBI to execute an arrest and search warrant at the man’s home in Provo, Utah, early Wednesday.

AD

The FBI told ABC that the incident is under investigation.

Title icon

Know More

According to an FBI criminal complaint, a copy of which was provided to Semafor, the man had made a series of posts over several months about wanting to kill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and two New York-based prosecutors investigating Trump: Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

On Aug. 6, three days before Biden was set to visit to Utah, the suspect wrote that he would “dust off” his sniper rifle and get out his ghillie suit — a type of camouflage clothing designed to look like grass.

AD

“I therefore believe this is [a] knowing and willful true threat to kill or cause injury to President Biden using an M24 sniper rifle while being concealed by a ghillie suit during President Biden’s visit to Utah,” an FBI agent wrote in the complaint.

Last September, he posted online: “Hey Merrick Garland, you Demented Weasel, Send your FBI Swat Team to my house. I’m a MAGA TRUMPER. You won’t because I fight back against cowards!!!”

FBI agents visited the man at his home in March after a social media platform tipped off authorities. After the visit, he allegedly made a series of posts threatening the agents if they visited again.

AD