A federal grand jury has charged a 33-year-old Ohio resident with threatening to kill United States Vice President JD Vance during his visit to the state in January, the Justice Department said on Friday.
The suspect, Shannon Mathre of Toledo, Ohio, is accused of “making a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon” the vice president, according to a statement from the department.
Prosecutors said Mathre allegedly declared that he was “going to find out where he (the vice president) is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him.”
The statement did not specify where or to whom the alleged threat was made.
Mathre was arrested on Friday by agents of the US Secret Service.
The charge marks the latest security-related incident involving Vance. In early January, the vice president disclosed that an individual he described as “a crazy person” attempted to break into his Ohio residence by hammering on the windows.
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Vance and his family were not at home at the time, and a 26-year-old man was later taken into custody, according to US media reports.
The Justice Department further revealed that during the investigation into the alleged threat against Vance, authorities discovered “multiple digital files of child sexual abuse materials” in Mathre’s possession.
Mathre made his initial court appearance on Friday before a US Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of Ohio. He remains in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for February 11.
The case is being handled by federal prosecutors, with the Secret Service continuing to investigate.