A Tulsa man will face federal charges for threatening to kill President Biden, members of Congress, and their family members, the Department of Justice reported Tuesday.
In the article published by the Department of Justice, John Jacobs Ahrens, 58, was charged in federal court with making threats against President Biden and members of Congress. The threats were sent via email to local news outlet KOTV Channel 6.
“John Ahrens allegedly sent a series of emails to Newson6 threatening to murder the President, members of Congress, and their families if he did not receive money,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson in the article. “Making online threats to murder public officials and their families has consequences. The arrest and filing of criminal charges is the first step in holding individuals accountable for their alleged actions.”
According to the article, an executive producer from the station contacted the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center to report the emails, which were sent between May and June 2021.
Two messages specifically noted occurred on May 10 and June 17, where he described the country seeing the sitting president getting his “head blown right off,” as well as other dangerous threats.
“In his messages, Ahrens demanded money, and if it wasn’t sent, he allegedly wrote that he would kill the President, members of Congress, and their families,” the article states. “Other messages included ‘America is going to get to see a sitting President get his head blown off right in front of them’ and ‘…your families will start dying. After that is over, I’m going to come back here one more time and tell you to hand over my money.’”
Ahrens was arrested at his residence on June 18. Allegedly, he admitted to sending the threatening emails during questioning. Right now, it is unreported which members of Congress he was threatening in his emails.
Also on Tuesday, a New York man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sending threatening communications to a Senator, and a Maryland man pleaded guilty in court for threatening the 2020 Democratic nominees, Biden and Harris.
“Making threats against candidates and fellow citizens for their political beliefs undermines our democracy and will not be tolerated,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner said in the article posted by the Department of Justice.
See the report from the Department of Justice about John Jacob Ahrens below:
“John Ahrens allegedly sent a series of emails to Newson6 threatening to murder the President, members of Congress, & their families...Making online threats to murder public officials & their families has consequences."- Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson https://t.co/Hjgzxra2cf
— U.S. Attorney NDOK (@USAO_NDOK) June 22, 2021