A man from Virginia has been accused of making a series of violent threats against Vice President Kamala Harris, just days after she was announced as the presidential candidate.
Frank Lucio Carillo from Winchester, Virginia who is 45 years old was arrested on Friday at his Winchester home and appeared in US District Court in Roanoke on Monday to face a federal felony charge that could land him up to five years in prison.
Investigation by the FBI showed a trend of threats originating from Carillo’s GETTR account. Law enforcement found close to 20 violent death threats towards Harris which included explicit death threats to her and her family as well as gory methods for causing bodily harm. One of the posts dated July 27th read, “Kamala Harris needs to be put on fire alive. I will do it personally if no one else does it. I want her to suffer a slow agonizing death.”
What we know so far
Carillo made extensive threats: A total of 4,359 posts and replies were made by Carillo using his GETTR account “joemadarats1”, some directed at several public figures including President Joe Biden, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and others; this account was linked back to Carillo through the investigations carried out by the FBI.
More threats: Apart from threatening Harris, Carillo also targeted other officials and groups. He had talked about guns and shooting people showing intent to commit violence against different targets among them; Muslims and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Weapons seized: When federal agents searched Carillo’s residence they took into custody a pistol, an AR-15 assault rifle as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition. In February he had bragged about his AR-15 being “LOCKED AND LOADED” in one post.
GETTR context: The social media platform where these threats were posted is called GETTR—it is mainly conservative right-wing social media site and alternative to mainstream ones. It was created by Jason Miller who is a Trump ally and is widely known as having a right wing user base. The site has been embroiled in some controversies and legal issues.
Threats escalating: This case brings out the increasing threats that public office holders are facing currently. There were over 8000 threats made to members of Congress last year by the US Capitol Police, which was higher than any previous year.
Carillo’s response: Upon his arrest, Carillo reportedly minimized the severity, asking, “This is all over a comment, huh?” Her lawyer details have not yet been disclosed publicly.
