Man charged with threatening to kill US Vice President

A federal grand jury has indicted a 33-year-old Ohio man for allegedly threatening to kill United States Vice President JD Vance during the official’s visit to the state in January. The Justice Department announced the charges against Shannon Mathre of Toledo on Friday, February 6.

According to the department’s statement, Mathre is accused of “making a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon” the Vice President. The indictment alleges that Mathre stated, “I’m going to find out where he (the vice president) is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him.” The location where the comment was made was not specified.

U.S. Secret Service agents arrested Mathre on Friday. During the investigation into the alleged threat, authorities also reported finding “multiple digital files of child sexual abuse materials” in Mathre’s possession.

This is the latest security incident involving Vice President Vance. In early January, a separate individual allegedly attempted to break into Vance’s Ohio home by hammering on windows while the Vice President and his family were away. A 26-year-old man was taken into custody in connection with that event.

Mathre made his initial court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Ohio on Friday. He remains in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for February 11.