A Federal Aviation Administration employee was arrested Monday for allegedly threatening President Trump’s life and using a work computer to help prepare the plans.
Dean DelleChiaie, 35, who is from Nashua, New Hampshire, appeared in court on Tuesday to face federal charges, prosecutors said.
The case underscores an escalating threat environment around Trump, who has faced at least three credible threats on his life. Two weekends ago, a gunman barreled through a Secret Service checkpoint with the intention of assassinating the president at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, police said.
In New Hampshire, authorities alleged that DelleChiaie used his government work computer to search for how to bring a gun into a federal facility. He also looked up past assassination attempts against the president, the percentage of the population that wants the president dead, and the phrase, “I am going to kill Donald John Trump,” according to the Department of Justice.
In early February, the United States Secret Service interviewed DelleChiaie about his online behavior. He admitted to conducting those searches on his work computer and confirmed that he owned three firearms, according to the DOJ.
Two months after the visit from federal agents, DelleChiaie allegedly used his personal email to send a threat across state lines to the White House’s public email address.
In the email, which was sent in April, DelleChiaie allegedly stated, “I, Dean DelleChiaie, am going neutralize/kill you — Donald John Trump — because you decided to kill kids — and say that it was War — when in reality — it is terrorism. God knows your actions and where you belong.”
If convicted, DelleChiaie faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
