The FBI shot and killed a man in Utah while agents were trying to arrest him at his home for making threatening statements targeting President Joe Biden on the eve of the president’s visit to the state.
The man, Provo resident Craig Deleeuw Robertson, was charged Tuesday with three felony counts for threats against the president, making interstate threats and influencing, impeding and retaliating against federal law enforcement and officers by threat.
The shooting occurred around 6:15 a.m. MST on Wednesday when agents attempted to arrest Roberts and serve search warrants at Robertson’s home.
The shooting incident is under review by the FBI’s Inspection Division. The FBI did not provide further details about the shooting.
On Sunday, according to charging documents, Robertson posted the following on his Facebook account “I HEAR BIDEN IS COMING TO UTAH. DIGGING OUT MY OLD GHILLE SUIT AND CLEANING THE DUST OFF THE M24 SNIPER RIFLE. WELCOM, BUFFOON-IN-CHIEF!”
Biden, who is traveling in the Southwest, is set to visit Salt Lake City on Thursday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the PACT Act, which expanded benefits for veterans, and attend a campaign fundraiser in Park City, Utah.
Robertson is also accused of making threats against Manhattan, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is pursuing federal charges against Trump for alleged hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the 2016 presidential campaign.
In a March 18 post on Truth Social, the social media site launched by former President Donald Trump, Robertson is accused of writing: “Heading to New York to fulfill my dream of iradicating [sic] another of George Soros two-but political hach [sic] DAs. I’ll be waiting in the courthouse parking garage with my suppressed Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm to smoke a radical fool prosecutor that should never have been elected.”
Robertson, according to prosecutors, added in the post: ” I want to stand over Bragg and put a nice hole in his forehead with my 9mm and watch him twitch as a drop of blood oozes from the hole as his life ebbs away tohell!! BYE, BYE, TO ANOTHER CORRUPT BASTARD!!!”
The charging document describes Robertson as a “heavy-set white male, approximately 70-75 years old.” The FBI, which began surveilling Robertson in March, observed Robertson wearing a dark suit with an AR-15 style rifle lapel pin attached and a “multi-colored (possibly camouflage) hat bearing the word ‘TRUMP’ on the front.”
The FBI reviewed other social media posts from Robertson as part of its investigation. One from September 2022 read: “The time is right for a presidential assassination or two. First Joe then Kamala!!!”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FBI shoots, kills Utah man wanted for Joe Biden, Alvin Bragg threats