A 37-year-old Tennessee man was charged over alleged social media threats against President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
Kyl Alton Hall was indicted Tuesday on two counts of threatening a sitting president or vice president and one count of a threat to a former president. Each charge could carry a penalty of up to five years in prison, according to the DOJ.
Authorities say the threats originated on the social media platform X. The Memphis-area man allegedly threatened to “kill, assassinate, shoot, and crash the plane” of Biden. He also threatened to assassinate Harris and Obama.
The U.S. Secret Service investigated the case, which will be prosecuted by the national security and civil rights unit in the local U.S. attorney’s office.
A spokesperson for the Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The charges come the same week that all three officials — Biden, Harris and Obama — appeared in Chicago to speak at the Democratic National Convention, where Harris accepted her party’s presidential nomination.
This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:
- Members of the Kennedy family denounce RFK Jr.'s decision to endorse Trump
- Satellite images show Ukraine's expanding attacks inside Russia
- Wildfires keep hitting the iconic Pacific Crest Trail, forcing closures and evacuations
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
