Two men were arrested on Election Day for making violent threats against former President Donald Trump and conservative Christians if Trump wins the election.
🚨 The FBI has arrested 2 men in Michigan who threatened to commit a mass shooting of conservative Christians if Trump wins the election.
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) November 5, 2024
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, law enforcement has charged 25-year-old Ann Arbor resident Isaac Sissel with sending a threatening communication.
NEW: The FBI has arrested 25-year-old Isaac Sissel for allegedly threatening to carry out a mass shooting terrorist attack against "conservative Christian filth" if Trump wins the election
He allegedly said that he stole an AR-15 for the attack pic.twitter.com/3tfYB0eLxS
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 5, 2024
This news came after the FBI National Threat Operations Center in West Virginia received an anonymous threatening submission online on November 2 that was later connected to Sissel.
The message read, in part: “I shall carry out an attack against conservative christan, (sic) filth in the event trump wins the election. I have a stolen ar15 and a target I refuse to name so I can continue to get away with my plans. Without a specific victim or ability to find the place I hid the gun, there’s not a thing the FBI can do until I complete the attack.”
Officials were able to connect the threat to Sissel through his phone records an the IP address behind the threat. He was reportedly tied to several radical Reddit accounts with names including: “ShootUpTrumpRally,” “PlanningToShootTrump,” and “WillShootTrumpSoon.”
The complaint filed against the would-be terrorist read: “Sissel said that he wouldn’t kill Trump, but if he knew someone was going to assassinate Trump that it was his (Sissel’s) duty to not intervene. Sissel said that he hated conservative Christians, who he enjoyed threatening.”
Court records show that Sissel does not currently have a steady address in Ann Arbor, though he reportedly stays near a rehab center in the city.
The second arrestee has been identified as 46-year-old Christopher Pierce of Jackson, Michigan — who has been charged with one count of making a threatening interstate communication.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Pierce allegedly sent two messages online on October 2 that contained “threats to injure or kill individuals associated with the PAC.”
The threats came as a response to a fundraising solicitation, where Pierce replied: “I guarantee I can find each and every one of your [expletive] organizees. And we will turn you [expletive] inside out. . . . Now you better stop or I promise you this is badly for all of you [expletive] and we won’tinvolve [sic] the law.”
Pierce sent a second reply shortly after, writing: “You will shut down your entire organization or it will be shut down for you. 90% of the members of [named organization]… are trained killers. . . . It paints targets onyour [sic] backs and the backs of your families. Your call centers have been located. Don’t make these boys and girlsgo [sic] to work.”
When FBI agents showed up at his door, Pierce was reportedly “hostile,” claiming that his messages could not have been perceived as threats.
“Pierce abruptly ended the conversation and aggressively closed his front door,” FBI Agent Nathanial Han Han explained in an affidavit.
