A Seattle man was arrested this week and charged with making interstate threats after he said he planned to execute White House senior adviser Jared Kushner for being Jewish and threatened to kill other members of President Trump’s family.
According to The Washington Post, the man, Chase Bliss Colasurdo, shared an image on Instagram in February showing a gun being pointed at a photograph of Kushner. Colasurdo later posted an image of Donald Trump Jr. in early March and reportedly wrote that he “would just like to let the secret service know” he plans to kill him.
{mosads}In both instances, Colasurdo reportedly boasted about not being “arrested yet” despite making threats against Trump’s two family members, even writing at one point: “And there is nothing you can do about it as indicated by the fact that I have been posting death threats against politicians for like a week and am still here posting.”
According to a release from the Justice Department, Colasurdo was contacted by law enforcement in March over the posts and claimed he was hacked.
However, the department said despite Colasurdo’s statements that “he was not responsible for the posts, Colasurdo continued to make threatening comments, specifically threats to members of the Jewish community.”
The agency said Colasurdo even wrote in another post that it was time to start “bombing synagogues.”
“As law enforcement continued to track his activity, it became clear he was purchasing various items related to firearms such as a holster, bulletproof vest and ammunition,” the department said.
Officials said Colasurdo made an attempt to purchase a firearm but had been denied. According to an FBI affidavit, Colasurdo also purchased a bulletproof vest and baseball cap, a gun holster and ammunition, among other items, during the period they surveilled him.
Colasurdo has since been charged with two counts of making interstate threats and faces up to five years in prison.