A United States government employee has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill President Donald Trump and using his workplace computer to research aspects of the plan, federal prosecutors said.
Authorities allege Dean DelleChiaie, 35, a mechanical engineer working as a Federal Aviation Administration contractor in New Hampshire, conducted online searches including how to smuggle a gun into a federal facility and the phrase “I am going to kill Donald John Trump”.
Prosecutors say he also looked up personal details about the families of Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
According to investigators, the FAA alerted law enforcement after DelleChiaie reportedly asked IT staff to delete his search history from his work computer.
A Secret Service agent later interviewed him at his home on 3 February, where he allegedly acknowledged carrying out the searches.
He reportedly said his actions were driven by anger toward the current administration over issues including the election, presidential pardons and the so-called “Epstein files”.
Officials also say he admitted to owning three firearms.
Separately, prosecutors allege that on 21 April, DelleChiaie used his personal computer to email the White House under the subject line: “Contact the President.”
In the message, he allegedly wrote, “I, Dean DelleChiaie, am going to 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, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 (£185,000) fine.
The case is one of several recent prosecutions involving alleged threats against Trump. The U.S. Department of Justice said there have been three such cases in the past week.
In one of them, former FBI director James Comey surrendered to authorities after being charged over an Instagram post featuring seashells that prosecutors say amounted to a threat.
In another case, a South Carolina man was arrested by the Secret Service after allegedly writing on his car that he was heading to Washington “to kill the pres”.
DOJ officials released an image of the vehicle with the words: “Headed to Wsh to kill the pres”
A third case involved a Florida man who pleaded guilty to making threats against Trump, as well as other public officials and members of Congress.
“Criminal threats directed at public officials are becoming alarmingly more common, and this must stop now,” US attorney for the Northern District of Florida John Heekin said in a news conference to announce the guilty plea.
Authorities also noted that the arrests come less than two weeks after a gunman allegedly attempted to target Trump and other officials at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington.
