A Wilkinsburg man was charged in federal court on Friday with threatening to kill President Donald Trump and a senator’s daughter in a series of voicemails made in recent weeks.
Raymond Eugene Chandler III was arrested at his home and is charged with two felonies.
The criminal complaint, filed by a task force officer with the FBI, was unsealed Friday.
“The FBI will not tolerate threats of violence and will work tirelessly to protect public officials and all members of our communities,” the agency said in a statement.
As a result of the alleged threats, the complaint said, additional safety measures have been put in place for some U.S. officials and their immediate family members and staff.
According to the affidavit, Chandler had been leaving messages on the unidentified member of Congress’s phone for a year.
Staff members told the FBI that they were concerned with Chandler’s “escalating calls for violence,” and provided to the a number of voicemail recordings.
The calls, the complaint said, date back to April 2025 through last month and begin with Chandler providing his name and address.
In a voicemail from April 18, the FBI said, Chandler talked about wealth distribution.
“I want you to imagine a scenario where all the 1,200 billionaires in this country, all their properties are surrounded simultaneously by a thousand people. So imagine your house, your daughter’s house, everyone you know and love who is also rich. Imagine every single one of those homes being surrounded by a thousand people. “
Chandler went on in the message, the complaint said, to suggest that those people would then kill the senator and his daughter.
“That you know, sir, that is the future. It’s not a future I want, it’s not a future I’m advocating for, but wealth concentration has gotten so bad in this country,” he allegedly said in the message. “The greed has gotten so bad. People are suffering so much, sir, that that is what is in our future. You will not escape their wrath. We must redistribute the wealth away from people like you.”
Eleven days later, the affidavit said, Chandler asked the member of Congress to kill President Trump.
“I am petitioning you, senator, for redress of grievances. My redress of grievances is that this president is awful … He’s a liar among all liars. He’s a great deceiver. He’s the antichrist.”
In many of the calls, according to the complaint, Chandler also advocates for violence against U.S. officials and their families, as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
In a call from April 17, 2025, Chandler left a voicemail in which he communicated concern people would be sent to death camps, and said he purchased a 7-inch combat knife and dagger “because he is terrified that his government would kill him.”
That same day, the complaint said, Chandler advocated his support for armed resistance against ICE and his willingness to go to war and “personally kill.”
On June 11, Chandler said the member of Congress “broke his covenant with God,” and six days later, he left a message saying he intended to build gallows to hang him.
In a message Jan. 12, Chandler said he realized violence was necessary, and he said he intended to organize armed resistance against ICE and that he’d identified those who deserved death, including Trump.
No attorney is yet listed for Chandler in court records.
The government has asked that Chandler remain in custody pending trial. No date has yet been set for a detention hearing.