An Arizona man pleaded guilty Tuesday to making threats against federal officials after repeatedly urging other social media users to shoot FBI agents and attack politicians, authorities said.
Michael Lee Tomasi, 37, of Rio Verde, Arizona, made a series of threats against FBI agents, elected officials and the judge overseeing right-wing conspirator Alex Jones’ defamation case, according to the US Department of Justice.
Tomasi posted the graphic threats over a period of more than two years between May 2021 and November 2023. primarily on the social media platform ‘www.patriots.win’, which describes itself as the “community of choice for President Donald J. Trump”. “
Tomasi — who lived in Colorado and Arizona at the time of the crimes — pleaded guilty to making threats against federal officials, according to a Justice Department news release. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 23 and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Among the crimes detailed in the original indictment was a November 2021 threat to sexually assault a congresswoman.
Tomasi also called for the execution of another member of Congress in March 2022, declaring: “He is one of them. Kill all the corrupt politicians.”
The defendant repeatedly threatened FBI agents, writing in November 2021: “The FBI has no legal ability to enforce anything. Shoot on the spot.” In an August 2023 post, Tomasi called for the “immediate death” of FBI agents. “Shoot the FBI first, ask questions later,” he wrote. “They are terrorists who deserve nothing but to be shot on the spot.”
Tomasi also posted a video of himself dancing with two guns in a post titled “My Let’s Go Brandon dance,” a reference to a derogatory meme about the president Joe Biden.
In a Justice Department press release, U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino for the District of Arizona said the “disgruntled defendant” was “prepared to carry out his threats: when he was arrested, he had a loaded handgun in his vehicle, as well as other firearms and body armor in his Home.”
—ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.