A Northern Virginia man has been charged with making death threats against Kamala Harris, including in the days after she announced her run for president, federal authorities said.
Frank Carillo, 66, is charged with one count of making threats against the vice president of the United States, according to the U.S. attorney’s office of the Western District of Virginia. He made his first court appearance Monday after being arrested at his Winchester home.
A public defender listed in court records for Carillo did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
According to the criminal complaint, Carillo mentioned the vice president 19 times on Gettr, a right-wing social media platform, with several of the posts containing graphic descriptions of violence. Authorities said Carillo also posted violent threats against President Joe Biden, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Phoenix-area elections official Stephen Richer — a Republican who has pushed back on election denialism.
Carillo’s online posts were flagged by Richer’s Maricopa County office on July 27, and FBI agents then discovered more than 4,300 posts or replies on Gettr in which Carillo targeted public officials, according to the complaint. He also allegedly made posts threatening to kill undocumented immigrants and Muslims.
Federal agents seized an AR-15 rifle, a 9 mm handgun and thousands of rounds of ammunition at Carillo’s home last week, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Violent threats against public officials have been on the rise in recent years. There were appeals for the temperature in politics to be lowered after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last month — including from the GOP presidential nominee himself — but there has been arguably little substantive change.
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