Hours before Air Force One touched down in Utah last week, FBI agents shot and killed a man who was threatening to kill President Joe Biden, casting a shadow over the visit.
According to court filings, 75-year-old Craig Robertson, of Provo, made a post to social media saying, “I HEAR BIDEN IS COMING TO UTAH.”
“DIGGING OUT MY OLD GHILLE SUIT AND CLEANING THE DUST OFF THE M24 SNIPER RIFLE,” the post continued. “WELCOME, BUFFOON-IN-CHIEF! (sic)”
Federal prosecutors pressed charges against the man for the threats. When the FBI showed up on his doorstep early in the morning on Aug. 9, he allegedly pointed a gun at them before being fatally shot.
While deadly standoffs haven’t preceded other presidential visits in recent years, law enforcement action for threats against presidents isn’t all that uncommon in Utah.
Under U.S. Criminal Code, it is illegal to “knowingly and willfully (deposit) for conveyance in the mail or for delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of or to inflict bodily harm upon” the president.
Over the years, a number of Utahns have been arrested for threatening a president.
Since 2000, there are at least five Utah examples of threats against presidents. The Salt Lake Tribune is not naming the Utahns in these resolved cases:
George W. Bush
2001
In March of 2001, a Utah man “knowingly and willfully made a threat to take the life of the President of the United States,” according to an indictment.
The Deseret News reported at the time that the man called the FBI, asking, “What if I kill your president? What do you think about that?”
He was sentenced to time served in prison and two years of supervised release. While on supervision, his probation officer reported that the man made another threat against the president in 2004.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) President George W. Bush waves as he arrives in Salt Lake City Wednesday, May 28, 2008.
A federal judge subsequently ordered that he be sent to the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Missouri for psychological examination, and the court later found him to be “presently suffering from a mental disease.” He was discharged from supervision in 2010.
2005
While being held at the Utah State Prison in Draper, one man sent a letter to the White House, addressed to then-President George W. Bush, threatening to kill him, First Lady Laura Bush and their daughters.
In a statement submitted to federal court, he wrote, “I stated in the letter that I would drink the blood of my victims and I warned the President that he should not have run for a second term. I signed the letter with my name and also placed my inmate number and housing unit number on the letter and envelope.”
An agent with the Secret Service interviewed the man, and he admitted to sending the letter. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to over four years in prison, and three years of supervised release afterward.
2006
Another man incarcerated at the Utah State Prison send a letter to Bush threatening to kill him and “blow up” the White House, according to court records.
The man, who reportedly was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in the 1970s, underwent a psychological evaluation. The court determined he was competent to stand trial, and sentenced him to over four years in federal prison.
Barack Obama
2009
An employee at a Zions First National Bank in St. George reported that a man came to the bank with an $85,000 check asking to open a savings account. He asked if the bank was “solvent,” then allegedly said, “With all this mess going on under President (Barack) Obama with banks and the economy, I’m sure if citizens lose their money, they will rise up and we could see killing and deaths.”
The man returned a couple of weeks later to withdraw over $12,000 from his account. As a teller handed the cash to him, he reportedly said, “We are on a mission to kill the president of the United States.”
A Secret Service agent initiated an investigation into the man, who is originally from New York. The agent said in an affidavit submitted to federal court that there were at least eight firearms — ranging from semi-automatic pistols to revolvers — registered to the man.
After the man’s arrest, a federal judge ordered a psychological examination to “determine the mental competence of the defendant and his sanity at the time of the offense.” The court found that he was incompetent to stand trial, and ordered him committed to a federal medical center in North Carolina for treatment.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) President Barack Obama meets with Henry B. Eyring and church leaders during a visit to Utah, Thursday April 2, 2015.
Donald Trump
2016
Two weeks after the 2016 presidential election, a Utah woman posted on Facebook threatening to kill then-President-elect Donald Trump.
Court documents indicate she wrote, “I will kill the president of the United States and let the black community have this country because I know that all white people in it will become slaves to them and that’s what they deserve if they stay quiet right now.”
The Secret Service interviewed the woman in December, and she confirmed to them that the threat was intended for Trump. In June 2017, months after Trump’s inauguration, she again posted to Facebook threatening the president and vice president, saying, “Tick Tock Mike and Donald I’m going to kill you both,” and later, “I dare you to doubt me.”
The woman was sentenced to time served in prison, and three years of supervised release.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) President Donald Trump is surrounded by Utah elected officials at the Utah Capitol on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, as he signs a presidential proclamation to shrink Bears Ears National Monument.
