Buster

Feds Arrest Man For Online Death Threats Against Donald Trump Jr. And Jared Kushner

A Washington State man who was charged today with making death threats against Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. in unhinged online posts stocked up in recent weeks on ammunition and ballistic armor, but was stopped from purchasing a 9mm handgun after the Secret Service flagged his name in a federal background check database.

Chase Bliss Colasurdo, 27, is charged with making interstate threats against Kusher and Trump Jr., according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Colasurdo was arrested yesterday in Kent, the Seattle suburb where he resides.

Click here to download a PDF of the seven-page felony complaint.

Federal agents began investigating Colasurdo after a “concerned citizen” contacted the FBI in mid-March about threatening posts on his social media accounts. For example, a February 27 Instagram post showed a hand pointing a gun at an image of Kushner. A day earlier, Colasurdo allegedly sent an e-mail to multiple news outlets declaring that he would “personally Execute” Kushner for “his countless treasonous acts.”

On March 4, investigators allege, Colasurdo posted a photo of Trump Jr. along with the caption, “I would just like to let the secret service know that I am going to Execute this faggot.” Two days earlier, Colasurdo posted to Instagram a photo of Trump Jr. with two of his children. “Your kids will be fine,” a caption read. “You are still going to get executed for treason.”

During a March 19 interview with federal agents, Colasurdo--an amateur MMA fighter--claimed that his Instagram account had been hacked, but noted that he had no plans to hurt anyone. Colasurdo also told agents that he was previously diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia while detained in a mental facility after a 2015 assault arrest.

Following the March interview, Colasurdo continued directing threats “against Jews and public figures” from his e-mail and social media accounts. One of Colasurdo’s frequent targets has been Ben Shapiro, the conservative pundit. A photo posted to Instagram on April 7 shows Colasurdo lounging on a bed holding a rifle.

As part of the federal probe of Colasurdo, agents accessed his Gmail account, which revealed purchases last month of body armor, a bulletproof baseball cap, rifle armor, and 300 rounds of 9mm ammunition. On April 3, Colasurdo sought to buy a $549 Sig Sauer 9mm pistol from an online retailer, but that purchase was denied since the Secret Service had flagged Colasurdo's name in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

After Colasurdo’s arrest yesterday, a search of his residence yielded the ballistic armor and ammunition he recently purchased, as well as assorted firearm accessories, night vision goggles, a gas, mask, a framed portrait of Adolph Hitler, a Nazi flag, and anti-Semitic books like “The Protocols of Learned Elders of Zion.”

Pictured above, Colasurdo is scheduled to make an initial appearance this afternoon at U.S. District Court In Seattle.