A 24-year-old Georgia man has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and her family.
Federal authorities charged Aliakbar Mohammad Amin of Lilburn, Georgia on April 11 with transmitting interstate threats to injure Gabbard.
He is accused in a federal complaint of sending threatening text messages to Gabbard and her husband Abraham Williams. The threats were made from the end of March through early April, the filing says.
“You and your family are going to die soon,“ he allegedly wrote in one text, adding: “I will personally do the job if necessary.”
Another message allegedly read: “Prepare to die, you, Tulsi, and everyone you hold dear. America will burn.” He also warned that her home was a “legitimate target,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said Monday.
In a message sent to Williams, Amin reportedly wrote: “Tell your wife to always be on her best behavior and not to disobey Mr. Vladimir Putin’s orders. We are friendly bears. But we can also be angry bears.” The text was punctuated by emojis depicting the Russian flag and bears, the complaint says.
The complaint accuses Amin of “expressing threatening rhetoric and sending screenshots of anti-American social media content.”
Authorities also uncovered threats Amin allegedly made in social media posts, including one photo of someone pointing a gun — with their finger on the trigger — at a laptop screen displaying an image of Gabbard, according to the complaint. He also posted a similar image of a firearm being pointed at a photo of the couple, the filing says.
While executing a search of Amin’s home, federal agents uncovered a firearm.
When speaking to authorities, Amin admitted the firearm photos were of his hand and his gun, noting that his mother recently took his weapon away and put it in a storage locker. He also told agents that he “understood” that Gabbard and Williams would “interpret these messages to be death threats, according to court filings.
FBI Atlanta announced Amin’s arrest on X. In response, Gabbard wrote: “Thank you @FBI, @USMarshalsHQ, and local law enforcement for your service and dedication in apprehending this radicalized, dangerous criminal who repeatedly threatened the lives of me, my family, and @realDonaldTrump. Thank you for your tireless work every day keeping the American people safe.”
Amin’s arrest came one day before a suspected terrorist allegedly set fire to the mansion of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, was detained in connection with the alleged “targeted” attack on Saturday.
In the wake of the attack, Shapiro said: “This type of violence is not okay. This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society.”
He added: “I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one party or another, or one person or another, it is not okay. It has to stop. We have to be better than this.”
