President Joe Biden gives remarks on student debt relief at Delaware State University on October 21, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.)
A 23-year-old man in Alabama is accused of driving from Alabama to the site of a presidential debate in Atlanta 18 months ago where he planned to sneak into the event and kill then-President Joe Biden.
Adam Benjamin Hall was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged in federal court with one count of traveling in interstate commerce with the intent to kill the president, authorities announced.
"Threats against the President are gravely serious and must be treated as such," U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. "Hall's alleged actions went beyond mere words and included traveling to Georgia with a firearm to murder President Biden. Political violence is never acceptable and must be countered by swift intervention and meaningful consequences."
The debate between Biden and then-candidate Donald Trump took place on June 27, 2024.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, more than a year later, on Oct. 23, 2025, Hall told several fellow students at Wallace State Community College that he had traveled to Georgia for the debate.
"Hall stated that he 'drove over to Atlanta' with a revolver containing two rounds, which he thought would be enough to kill President Biden because he was 'a pretty decent shot and Joe Biden was or is like one foot and four toes in the grave already,'" the complaint states. "Hall added 'if I clip a major artery it's [making a squishing noise] for him.'"
Hall continued, explaining that he had written a "manifesto" after seeing distressing images of "maimed children in the Middle East" and nearly failed his classes "due to his focus on a plan that involved killing Joe Biden."
Hall's comments were reported to police who contacted federal authorities the following day. Agents interviewed Hall's parents who informed investigators that they had learned about their son's plan to kill the president about a month after he'd traveled to Atlanta. The parents said they confiscated Hall's gun, a recently purchased .38-caliber Smith & Wesson, and placed it in the father's personal safe.
Hall agreed to be interviewed on Oct. 25, 2025, telling investigators he felt he "needed to do something" after seeing the photos online. He then learned about the presidential debate, which was hosted by CNN, and drove to Atlanta.
Hall arrived in Atlanta later that afternoon, but mistakenly went to the former site of the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta. After parking on top of the parking garage, Hall allegedly walked around scouting the area. Several hours later, Hall saw videos of the debate on his cell phone and realized he had made a "mistake" and that the debate was over. He returned to Alabama the following day.
Authorities on Nov. 6, 2025, performed a forensic analysis of Hall's phone and found a self-described "exposé" or "manifesto" typed in his Apple Notes that apologized to "Palestinian journalists" and railed against the "U.S. empire" for allowing "needless bloodshed to go on for so long."
Other excerpts from Hall's writing included:
- "Hopefully my actions snap you all awake long enough to thoroughly understand the point I will make in this exposé."
- "Our enemies are not in any other country but our own and Israel's."
- "It's time we overthrow these bastards and threaten to pull a f—king D-Day on Tel Aviv . . . ."
- "On the week of July 4th, forget your f—king barbecues and pool parties. Instead do the patriotic thing by marching on Capitol Hill, the White House, and the Supreme Court armed with whatever you have . . . . Unless the feds shoot first, you must not engage. If they are unwilling to comply after a few hours, then I permit you to march into those buildings and do what is necessary to regain control of our country from the deep state."
Hall's ex-girlfriend on Nov. 12, 2025, confirmed to federal agents that she spoke to Hall the night of the presidential debate while he was in Atlanta. Hall told her about the gun he had purchased and his plan to sneak into the debate, saying he "wanted to call [her] one last time before the news broke."
Hall appeared before a magistrate judge on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear when he was next scheduled to appear in court.
Federal prosecutors said the investigation into Hall's actions remains ongoing and additional charges may be filed in the future.
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