A Butler County man has been charged with threatening to assault and murder President Donald Trump, other U.S. officials and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, authorities announced Friday.
Shawn Monper, 32, of Butler Township is accused of making threats between January 15 and April 5, according to the Justice Department.
With Monper’s arrest, Butler County is once again at the center of an assassination-related incident involving Trump, who was injured in an attempt on his life last year while on the campaign trial.
The FBI was alerted to threats posted to YouTube by an account named Mr Satan, officials said. A federal investigation linked the YouTube account to Monper, according to authorities.
Monper obtained a firearms permit shortly after Trump’s January inauguration, officials said.
In February, Monper made a comment on his Mr Satan account, writing, “I have been buying 1 gun a month since the election, body armor, and ammo,” authorities said.
The criminal complaint included several threatening statements, including one dated February 17 that read: “Nah, we just need to start killing people, Trump, Elon, all the heads of agencies Trump appointed, and anyone who stands in the way. Remember, we are the majority, MAGA is a minority of the country, and by the time its time to make the move, they will be weakened, many will be crushed by these policies, and they will want revenge too. American Revolution 2.0”
Elon presumably refers to Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur advising Trump and overseeing the so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency, or DOGE.
In March, an FBI affidavit alleges, Monper posted on YouTube that he would “assassinate him myself,” and later in the month said through the same YouTube account, “ICE are terrorist people, we need to start killing them.”
On April 1, he posted to YouTube, “If I see an armed ice agent, I will consider it a domestic terrorist, and an active shooter and open fire on them.”
On Wednesday, the FBI and Butler Township Police Department arrested Monper. He was detained pending hearings scheduled Monday.
Monper is charged with influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official and a federal law enforcement officer. He was investigated by the FBI out of its New Castle field office.
Online voter registration records list a Shawn Monper, 32, of Butler Township, as a registered Democrat.
The government said its investigation grew out of what the FBI called an “emergency disclosure of information” on Tuesday from Google about the posts on YouTube.
Google gave the FBI Monper’s name, email address and phone number, according to the affidavit.
Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the FBI and Butler Township police, according to the Justice Department.
Trump’s ear was struck by a bullet or bullet fragments during an assassination attempt at a rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds in July when a gunman opened fire.
The gunman — Thomas Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park — fired from a nearby rooftop, wounding Trump, killing rallygoer Corey Comperatore and seriously injuring two other attendees.
A Secret Service countersniper killed the gunman.
Trump in October returned to the scene to hold another rally.