WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania man was arrested for making threats against the FBI on the right-wing social media website Gab after special agents searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week.
Adam Bies was charged with influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a federal law enforcement official after the social media exploitation team in the FBI’s National Threat Operations Section referred a tip about a Gab post by the user “BlankFocus.” The user, according to a FBI affidavit, posted that employees of the bureau deserved to die.
“I’m ready for the inevitable. Once you accept reality for what it is instead of what you want or to be, you can move on with your life and get prepared for the inevitable outcome. I already know I’m going to die at the hands of these piece of shit child molesting law enforcement scumbags,” Bies wrote, according to authorities. “My only goal is to kill more of them before I drop. I will not spend one second of my life in their custody.”
Records show that Bies was taken into custody. Federal prosecutors are requesting that he be held until trial.
The FBI received the tip about Bies from the MERMRI Domestic Terrorism Threat Monitor.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned about an increased number of threats against law enforcement following the search of Mar-a-Lago last week. A man was killed after attacking a FBI field office in Cincinnati last week.
In a statement on Monday, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he strongly condemned “the recent violence and continued threats and rhetoric against law enforcement, including against the judicial branch” and FBI and Justice Department leaders.
“These threats of violence and even civil war – coming predominantly from right-wing extremists online – are not only un-American but are a threat to our democracy and the rule of law. Unfortunately, these threats are frighteningly similar to those we saw in the run-up to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol,” Thompson, who also chairs the committee investigating Jan. 6, said. “I urge law enforcement entities, including the U.S. Capitol Police, to prepare for the extremist threats facing our country.”