A customer at an impasse with Capital One over a disputed debt is facing a half-decade in federal prison after allegedly vowing to assassinate those executives he held responsible for having “ruined” his life.
In a December 12 email, Houston, Texas resident and budding beef jerky impresario Taylor Bullard told the bank’s collections agency that he had already paid the amount in question and that they were chasing him in error, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed upon his arrest eight days later.
“Call me before I show up to one of their locations with a machete and gasoline,” Bullard wrote, according to a screenshot of the email included in the affidavit. “You have ruined my ability to buy a home. I’m 34 with a 100k+ job and it’s time I target the people and companies that have ruined my ability to live the life I deserve. I will be coming after your executive team personally. Please call me before I do things that are unforgivable and will make your executive team question their life choices. Thank you, Taylor Bullard”
The affidavit says Bullard sent the note in response to an email from Capital One “urging [him] to create a payment plan to resolve his approximate $543 debt with the company.”
FBI agents traced the sender’s IP address back to Bullard’s home, and subpoenaed his email records from Google, according to the affidavit, which was obtained by Court Watch and shared with The Independent.
Bullard requested a court appointed attorney, but no one is yet listed on the docket. A phone number Bullard provided the court in his release papers went straight to voicemail on Wednesday. A request for comment sent via email to Capital One was met with an out-of-office auto-response lasting until January 2.
Investigators dug into Bullard’s past and found at least three previous threats to corporations he felt had “wronged” him, the affidavit goes on. In 2017, it says Bullard emailed an unnamed company, for an unspecified offense, to say he planned “to release anthrax at one of their events and/or kill himself in public.”
The FBl questioned Bullard at the time, and he told agents that “he wanted attention, wanted to see the companies sweat, and did not intend to hurt himself or others,” according to the affidavit.
In 2022, at odds with an unnamed financial institution, Bullard left a voicemail with customer service, threatening to “go to an open…branch with an AK-47 and shoot up the drive through [sic], as well as… damage an ATM,” the affidavit states.
That same year, Bullard threatened Carvana with mass violence after claiming the online auto dealer sold him a defective vehicle, according to the affidavit. The company’s name is redacted in court filings, but several postings in which Bullard relayed his promises to exact revenge are still viewable on social media.
“I’m going to drive the lemon you sold me through your front doors in Friday off i10 in Houston,” Bullard wrote in one. “Be ready for chaos a**holes[.]”
“@Carvana you will know what you did to me whether you fooking want to or not,” he wrote in another. “You r***d me and sold me a lemon[.]”
A third read, “F***ing call@me or it’s all over for your sales team in Houston[.]”
However, a review of Bullard’s social media activity shows him taking a very different tone with Starlink, the Elon Musk-owned satellite internet provider. In one 2022 message posted on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter and also owned by Musk, Bullard posted a screenshot of a service request with a subject line reading, “Data speeds are zero,” and asked, politely, for an update.
“Howdy!! Happy Sunday, can someone please give me a more accurate estimate or help me escalate my order?” the message said. “I’ve been waiting 2 years almost to install a line of site antenna and increased single coverage but I’ve cripple [sic] myself while waiting on Starlink promises for so long. Can someone please help me estimate or am I completely on my own?”
In a follow-up message, Bullard invoked Musk’s brother, a Starlink executive, writing, “Please help me through the appropriate channels, I’m not afraid to approach Kimbal to get this mess sorted out and gift y’all some grassfed jerky and steaks. Thanks, Taylor”
Corporate America has been in a state of high alert following the December 4 shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. After a multi-state manhunt, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was arrested for Thompson’s murder and is now facing both state and federal charges. When Mangione was caught, he was carrying a gun similar to the one used to kill Thompson, as well as a short manifesto.
The US Marshals Service arrested Bullard in Houston on December 20. He was charged with one count of sending threatening interstate communications, which carries up to five years in prison, and released on $25,000 bond. Bullard will be tried in Virginia, where Capital One is headquartered.
