U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young reported that a man was arrested and charged with threatening to assassinate a presidential candidate in a text message. Threats were also made to attendees of a campaign event scheduled to be held in Portsmouth, N.H. The defendant was identified as 30-year-old Tyler Anderson.
Although the statement released by the New Hampshire District Attorney's Office does not elaborate on who the threatened candidate was, Axios was able to confirm with Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign, that he was the target.
'Another opportunity to blow his brains out'
"According to the charging documents, Anderson received a text message from the victim’s campaign notifying him of a political event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Anderson responded to the text message on December 8, 2023, stating: 'Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!' and 'I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then f*** their corpses,'" the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote in the statement.
Similarly, authorities explained that Anderson faces a charge that carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. "The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the Dover and Portsmouth Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jarad Hodes and Matthew Hunter are prosecuting the case," the U.S. Attorney's Office detailed.
Meanwhile, Ramaswamy posted pictures on his social media of the campaign event he held in New Hampshire. "Massive event last night. Most are not polled. Major surprises coming up in Iowa & New Hampshire," the Republican candidate wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Massive event last night. Most are not polled. Major surprises coming up in Iowa & New Hampshire. https://t.co/Y61Eo0iwd5
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 11, 2023
