A Virginia man has been arrested for making a series of violent online threats against Vice President Kamala Harris as it became apparent she would become the Democratic presidential nominee.
The FBI arrested Frank Lucio Carillo, 66, on Monday at his home in the city of Winchester. He now faces federal criminal charges of one count of making repeated threats against the vice president of the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Virginia announced.
In addition to VP Harris, Carillo also levied violent threats made online against the FBI director and other public officials.
More from the official U.S. Department of Justice press release:
According to court documents, on July 27, 2024, the Maricopa County, Arizona, Recorder’s Office notified the FBI’s Phoenix Office of potential threats being made on the social media platform GETTR. The threats were being made by a user with the name “joemadarats1.”
FBI searched the “joemadarats1” user account and discovered approximately 4,359 posts and replies made by the user targeting various public officials including, but not limited to, President Joseph Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Vice President Harris was mentioned 19 times by “joemadarats1,” including numerous threats of violence.
In a February 2024 post, “joemadarats1” said he had his “AR-15 LOCKED AND LOADED.”
Authorities used GETTR subscriber information and other investigative methods to match the “joemadarats1” username with Carillo and to locate his physical location in Winchester, Virginia.
On August 2, 2024, authorities at the FBI Richmond executed a search warrant at Carillo’s home and seized a 9 mm pistol, an AR-15 rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
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