William Dunbar, a 23-year-old Pennsylvania National Guardsman, has been sentenced to six months in federal prison after pleading guilty to threatening to kill Vice President Mike Pence.
In addition to the six month sentence, U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson also ordered Dunbar to serve an additional six months of home arrest and to seek mental health treatment. He was sentenced on Friday.
Dunbar made the threat prior to Pence’s visit to Pennsylvania last year for the annual observation of the Flight 93 crash on September 11, where he would appear as a keynote speaker. Dunbar pleaded guilty to the charge in December 2017.
Dunbar, from Berlin, Pennsylvania, said: “If someone pays me enough money, I will kill the Vice President,” according to authorities.
The threats were made on Sept. 8, 2017, while Dunbar was on duty at the Army National Guard Training Center, just 80 miles from the site of the memorial. The commanding officers were called by witnesses after Dunbar made the same threat twice, U.S. News reported.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that a Secret Service agent said Dunbar said “I’ll make a terroristic threat, I’ll kill him. I don’t give a (expletive). There’s nothing they’re going to do,” according to the Indy Star.
Dunbar was arrested by police on Sept. 8, prior to Pence delivering his memorial speech.
