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Andrew D. Emerald, a 45-year-old man residing in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was arrested this Wednesday by FBI agents, accused of posting at least eight threatening messages against President Donald Trump on Facebook between May and July 2025.
According to the statement, the case was brought before the federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, with a formal charge of eight counts of interstate transmission of threatening communications, a crime that carries a sentence of up to five years in prison for each count, for a potential total of 40 years.
The threats published by Emerald were explicit and detailed.
On May 13, 2025 he wrote: "Either Trump is dead and buried by 2026 or I hunt him down and put him there."
On June 14, 2025, he declared: "I'm coming for you, Trump... it is my mission in this life to end your existence."
In July, Emerald made direct references to using a sword against the leader, and in another post threatened to set fire to Mar-a-Lago, the president's residence in Florida, ensuring that Trump was inside when it happened.
According to FBI documents, Emerald has been posting threats against Trump for approximately a decade, a pattern that authorities consider especially serious due to its duration and specificity.
According to The Straits Times, the arrest had a dramatic turn of events as when FBI agents arrived at his home in Great Barrington to execute the arrest warrant, Emerald refused to come out and emerged wielding a long metal sword, telling them they would have to shoot him before he opened the door.
After a negotiation with the FBI crisis team and the intervention of a local police officer who contacted him by phone, Emerald finally agreed to surrender peacefully.
During the search of his home, authorities seized multiple swords and other bladed weapons. The Department of Justice requested his preventive detention.
The investigation began after a citizen reported to the FBI about the threatening posts. When that citizen warned Emerald that threatening the president was a crime, he responded that he had been doing it for a decade and that he would kill the agents if they showed up.
Since Trump's return to the presidency in January 2025, federal authorities have handled multiple similar cases.
In March 2025, Kendall Aaron Todd was arrested in Fort Pierce, Florida, for making death threats against Trump on digital platforms. In January 2026, Marco Antonio Aguayo was detained for similar threats against Vice President J.D. Vance.
Threatening the President of the United States is a federal offense punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 per charge, which exposes Emerald to a maximum criminal liability of 40 years in prison.
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