Man charged with threatening to kill FBI agents following Trump’s Mar-a-Lago search
FBI’s National Threat Operations Section was tipped off about Gab user making threats on far-right social media network
A Pennsylvania man has been charged with threatening to kill as many FBI agents as possible following the search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Adam Bies, 46, faces up to 10 years in prison for the violent threats, which authorities say were almost all made after the 8 August search of the former president’s home for classified documents.
Court papers state that the FBI’s National Threat Operations Section was tipped off about a Gab user, who went by the name “BlankFocus”, making the threats on the far-right social media network.
“My only goal is to kill more of them before I drop,” he allegedly wrote, according to investigators, who say they tracked an email address and IP address to the suspect.
Mr Bies was charged with influencing, impeding, or retaliating against federal law enforcement officers and remains in custody until a court hearing later this week.
“I’m ready for the inevitable. Once you accept reality for what it is instead of what you want or to be, you can move on with your life and get prepared for the inevitable outcome,” the suspect is accused of writing in another post.
“I already know I’m going to die at the hands of these piece of s**t child molesting law enforcement scumbags. My only goal is to kill more of them before I drop. I will not spend one second of my life in their custody.”
And in a 10 August, post, he allegedly wrote, “Every single piece of s**t who works for the FBI in any capacity, from the director down to the janitor who cleans their f--king toilets deserves to die. You’ve declared war on us and now it’s open season on YOU.”
The arrest came after an armed man tried to get into the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, last week. Ricky Shiffer, 43, was eventually shot and killed by law enforcement after a standoff.
Mr Trump and his allies have denounced the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, even though it was signed off by a federal judge and personally approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Last week the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning of an increased threat to federal agents as a result of the search.
According to an unsealed search warrant and property receipt from the Mar-a-Lago search, agents seized documents labeled secret, top secret, and some of the higher classified levels of TS/SCI.