President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci).
A 36-year-old man in Florida is accused of threatening to assassinate Donald Trump, vowing to "shoot" the president and other public officials in a series of social media posts. Diego Martin Villavicencio was taken into custody last month and charged with one count of transmitting threatening communications over the internet, court records show.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Villavicencio used social media and anonymous internet forums to publish repeated posts advocating violence against politicians, corporate executives, and the United States government.
One message cited by investigators included a direct call to shoot Trump as well as former President Joe Biden. The message was posted to 4chan in response to an article about a cryptocurrency forum being hosted at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, writing:
Good, I'll be driving there to take a couple shots at Trump and some of the other corrupt plutocrats.Death to AmericaBomb AmericaBomb the federal reserveKill politiciansKill CEOsShoot Joe BidenShoot Donald TrumpEND CAPITALISMFREE THE PEOPLE.
Authorities say the message came from an account using the handle "@oracleofomega." Investigators later linked the account to Villavicencio through records obtained from the platform and internet service providers, according to the affidavit.
In another message, Villavicencio allegedly shared an image of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with crosshairs placed over his head and warned that he would be "shot and killed" on a specific date.
The affidavit also says the account threatened a sitting member of Congress.
According to investigators, Villavicencio was responding to the congressman's post on X, formerly Twitter, in which he accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of refusing to prosecute "multiple direct death threats" against him and his family. Villavicencio allegedly wrote:
"I'll kill you and your family and you won't do anything about it. Corruption listens to bullets."
Investigators say the account then sent the lawmaker a direct message warning that he would be "shot and killed" the following day.
The affidavit does not name the congressman, but Rep. Eric Swalwell confirmed he was the lawmaker referenced in the filing, NBC News reported.
"The aim of this threat was to silence me," Swalwell, a perennial Trump critic, told the network. "Political violence has never been the answer. And it never will be. My family and I are grateful to the Department of Justice for their attention to this violent threat."
Records obtained from the social media platform showed the account was created in 2020 using a ProtonMail email address. Investigators later traced login activity to an internet connection associated with a residence in Tallahassee, Florida, according to the affidavit.
Surveillance and additional records ultimately linked the online activity to Villavicencio, investigators said.
Even after the account was suspended from X, authorities say similar threats later appeared on 4chan. One post again repeated several of the same statements — including the call to "Shoot Donald Trump" — while urging violence against politicians and financial leaders, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also references a prior incident involving Villavicencio while he was attending the University of Central Florida. According to the affidavit, he was arrested in 2015 after allegedly pulling a pocketknife during a confrontation with another student at a campus recreation center and later admitted to pointing the knife before discarding it.
Villavicencio is currently scheduled to go to trial in May.