WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania man was arrested and charged with making threats against the FBI on the right-wing social media website Gab after special agents searched former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate last week.
Adam Bies was charged with influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal law enforcement official after the social media exploitation team in the FBI's National Threat Operations Section referred a tip about a Gab post by the user "BlankFocus." The user, according to an FBI affidavit, posted that employees of the bureau deserved to die.
“I'm ready for the inevitable. Once you accept reality for what it is instead of what you want or to be, you can move on with your life and get prepared for the inevitable outcome. I already know I’m going to die at the hands of these piece of s--- child molesting law enforcement scumbags," Bies wrote, according to authorities. "My only goal is to kill more of them before I drop. I will not spend one second of my life in their custody.”
Records show that Bies was taken into custody. Federal prosecutors are requesting that he be held until trial.
The FBI received the tip about Bies from the MERMRI Domestic Terrorism Threat Monitor. He was arrested late Friday, according to a Justice Department news release.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warned about an increased number of threats against law enforcement after the search of Trump's estate in Palm Beach, Florida, last week. A man was killed after he attacked an FBI field office in Cincinnati last week.
Asked if President Joe Biden has been briefed on the threats to FBI agents following the search at Mar-a-Lago, a White House official told NBC News on Monday that the president “is being kept apprised of the threats to law enforcement.”
On Capitol Hill, some lawmakers are speaking out against the recent threats and attacks.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement Monday that he strongly condemned "the recent violence and continued threats and rhetoric against law enforcement, including against the judicial branch" and FBI and Justice Department leaders.
"These threats of violence and even civil war — coming predominantly from right-wing extremists online — are not only un-American but are a threat to our democracy and the rule of law. Unfortunately, these threats are frighteningly similar to those we saw in the run-up to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol," said Thompson, who also chairs the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot. "I urge law enforcement entities, including the U.S. Capitol Police, to prepare for the extremist threats facing our country.”
