An FBI investigation led to the arrest of a New Hampshire man who threatened to assassinate presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
The Justice Department accuses Tyler Anderson, 30, of responding to a text message notification about a political event with a threat to an unidentified candidate and that person’s supporters.
“Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!” the Dover, New Hampshire, man allegedly replied. “I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then (expletive) their corpses.”
The event referenced in court records was reportedly scheduled for Monday morning in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
New Hampshire station WMUR confirmed Anderson’s intended target was longshot Republican contender Ramaswamy. His campaign told CNN it was “grateful” law enforcement handled the matter effectively.
Ramaswamy was the only candidate slated to host an event in Portsmouth on Monday, according to NBC in Boston. The “buffet-style breakfast” was the first of three New Hampshire stops on his Monday schedule.
Feds were assisted by the Dover and Portsmouth Police Departments to arrest Anderson, who was due in court Monday afternoon. He faces a sentence of up to five years in prison.
Ramaswamy promised “ major surprises” to his New Hampshire supporters on social media Monday morning. He’s polling under 5% and has proven unpopular with fellow GOP candidates, including Nikki Haley, who called him “scum” during a debate last month.
Donald Trump, who leads the Republican field, has declined to participate in party debates. Ramaswamy, more than the other three GOP candidates still in the race for the party’s 2024 nomination, has most closely mirrored Trump’s conspiratorial rhetoric and confrontational behavior during those meetings.
Trump declared Ramaswamy the winner of the fourth and most recent debate last week in Alabama.
“It’s so easy to be a critic, but who on this subject would be better than me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform. “Vivek wins because he thinks I’m great.”
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