Federal prosecutors on Monday charged a Michigan man who threatened to execute President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, called for the killing of federal agents and judges, and suggested that a bomb would be dropped on Washington, D.C.
Russell Douglas Warren, 48, was charged in the Eastern District of Michigan after a series of posts last week on X, formerly Twitter, included threats to kill public officials and bomb government buildings, The Detroit News reported. The X account that made the posts has 22 followers and was still active as of Tuesday.
The account features dozens of nearly identical threats aimed at a variety of targets, including current and former politicians, current and former judges and magistrates, government buildings and the military.
One post from the account threatened to drop a bomb on the nation's capital. He also threatened bombs against specific government agencies, including the National Security Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security.
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"A complete evacuation of Washington D.C. must begin immediately. We're gonna drop a mother f--king bomb on it," he wrote in one post.
"FBI Headquarters shall be BOMBED," one post from Friday reads. "All Employees of the FBI have been CONDEMNED. Shoot to kill," another post read.
Warren also said Biden and Harris had been condemned and should be taken to prison and executed by hanging.
"Take Him to the Prisons to await Execution. He shall be Hanged," he wrote, targeting the president.
Similar posts were made targeting Harris, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other administration officials.
Threats of execution were also made against Republicans and Democrats who ran for president this election cycle, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, author Marianne Williamson and lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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"Ron Desantis is CONDEMNED. Death by Milestone," Warren wrote.
Warren also threatened the use of nuclear weapons against Mt. Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, all national parks and Disney theme parks.
The account's bio reads, "Donald Trump is Not going to save us. Our last chance for a political solution died with John F Kennedy."
Including this case, there have been 12 people charged with federal crimes involving threats to a public official this year and charges have been filed against 579 people since 2013, according to an investigation by National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center researchers Pete Simi of Chapman University and Seamus Hughes of the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Warren is charged with one count of threats against the president and successors to the presidency, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. He was ordered to be temporarily held without bond until a detention hearing Friday in federal court in Bay City.
An investigation was opened Saturday after the U.S. Secret Service and FBI learned about the threats posted to the X account.
Agents obtained subscriber information from X Corp. pinpointing the IP address being used by the account to connect to the internet since late last week. The IP address was found to be owned by cable company Charter Communications, which told investigators Warren was the subscriber using that IP address, according to the criminal complaint obtained by The Detroit News.
The first name matched a post from Thursday that said, "My name is Russ. After having a stroke, I was hospitalized in a nursing home. Unable to make my own medical decisions, I was forced to get vaccinated multiple times. I understand that I am dying. I understand that Donald Trump killed me."
Warren has a criminal history, according to the court filing, and was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon in 2022.
