A man in Virginia was arrested last week for allegedly making death threats against Vice President Kamala Harris, according to federal court documents.
Frank Carillo, 66, is accused of posting more than 4,000 comments to the social media platform GETTR, in which he threatened several public officials, including Harris, President Biden, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, an FBI special agent said in a complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
Harris was mentioned 19 times on the account, according to the complaint, including several times in the days after announcing she was running for president in place of Biden.
Carillo was charged with one count of violating the U.S. Code that makes it illegal to “knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President.”
“Open political discourse is a cornerstone of our American experience,” U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said. “We can disagree. We can argue and we can debate. However, when those disagreements cross the line to threats of violence, law enforcement must step in.”
The account, with the username “joemadarats1,” was discovered after Carillo allegedly made threats to the Maricopa County, Arizona, Recorder’s office, which reported the behavior to the FBI’s Arizona office. The agency then contacted Google and GETTR to track down the IP addresses, email address and location history attached to the account and devices.
Carillo also allegedly used the name Joe Amarats on a Facebook account, and to leave a review for a firearm he purchased in February.
The FBI searched Carillo’s home in Winchester, Virginia, on Friday. They found a RF-15 rifle and a 9 mm handgun.
In one post, Carillo allegedly said, “I HAVE MY AR-15 LOCKED AND LOADED”.
During the search, Carillo said, “This is ridiculous, for a comment. I guess I’m gonna need a lawyer,” according to the complaint.
Carillo’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
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