A 45-year-old man in Massachusetts has been arrested after allegedly making repeated death threats against US President Donald Trump on Facebook, according to federal authorities.
The suspect, identified as Andrew Emerald, was taken into custody on Wednesday following an FBI investigation into a series of social media posts made between May and July last year. He has since been charged in an eight-count federal indictment filed in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Prosecutors allege that Emerald repeatedly threatened to travel to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and claimed he would kill the former president if he was not dead by 2026. In one alleged post, he wrote: “Either Trump is dead and in the ground by 2026 or I am hunting him down and putting him there.”
Court documents further state that Emerald made multiple threatening posts expressing intent to harm the former president, including graphic and violent language referencing attacks and execution.
Authorities said the FBI identified Emerald following a tip-off from a member of the public. He was later located at his residence in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where he allegedly refused to surrender and was seen holding a sword before eventually exiting the property.
Law enforcement officers subsequently seized several bladed weapons from the scene, according to prosecutors.
Emerald pleaded not guilty in court and was ordered to be held without bail pending a detention hearing scheduled for Monday.
He faces charges of interstate transmission of threatening communications, which carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, along with fines and supervised release if convicted.
The case remains under federal investigation.
