Michigan man charged with threatening to hang President Biden and VP Harris
4:39 PM EST, January 30, 2024
Russell Douglas Warren, 48, is accused of threatening to hang President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after posting a series of alarming messages on the platform X.
According to the federal court, statements published by the Michigan man include threatening to kill Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and other politicians and law enforcement officers. Apart from that, Warren said he intended to bomb U.S. government buildings.
Investigating Online Threats
As stated by FOXNews.com, the account on which threats were made has 22 followers. It was naturally anonymous. Hence, there is a need to acquire all essential data - including the IP address used to log in to the internet and social media - from X. The detailed scrutiny of the obtained data unveiled the identity of the account owner.
It is not Russell Douglas Warren's first conflict with the law. He was convicted for the assault with a lethal weaponry in 2022.
The accused's detention hearing will occur on 2 February in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Michigan.
Political Violence is Growing as The Campain Speeds Up, Experts Say
According to the Associated Press, experts anticipate that the politically motivated violence in the United States will intensify as the 2024 campaign heats up. The campaign provides fertile soil for various speculations and conspiracy theories, which are incited and promoted by right-wing populist politicians.
AP quotes Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who studies domestic terrorism. "No longer are these conspiracy theories and very divisive and vicious ideologies separated at the fringes. They're now infiltrating American society on a massive scale," the expert says.
Sources: CBSNews.com, FOXNews.com, APNews.com
