Feds file new charge against Michigan man convicted of threatening Biden, Obama
DETROIT — A northern Michigan man with two federal convictions for vowing to kill President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama was back in trouble Tuesday after being accused of threatening to rape and kill another person.
Timothy Heath Findlay, 50, of Alger, was charged with sending interstate threats, marking the third time he has been hit with federal crimes since November 2013. A defense lawyer was not identified in federal court records.
Federal court records allege Findlay sent a threatening message via Skype in April, three months after being released from federal prison where he was serving a 22-month sentence for threatening to kill Biden by bombing the White House.
FBI Special Agent Nicholas Vanderploeg was contacted by a Microsoft official about a threatening Skype message sent on April 16. An investigation showed the message was sent from an electronic device in Alger and the email that was used to send the message was registered to Findlay, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.
“In the Skype message, Findlay threatened another by saying that he was going to rape and kill that other person,” the FBI agent wrote. “Specifically, Findlay wrote: ‘I rape and kill beautiful women.’
“The person he was messaging asked: ‘But what does that got to do with me?’” the agent added. “Findlay then responded ‘because I’ll rape you and murder you too.’”
Findlay made the threat while on supervised release from the case involving Biden, the agent wrote. Findlay was sentenced in May 2023 after prosecutors accused him of mailing a letter threatening Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and others.
In that case, Findlay wrote that he and others “are going to bomb the White House and kill everyone with cyanide,” according to his plea agreement. “Rape your wife(,) kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer(,) tie her up and leave her on Lake Michigan. Then kill everyone with cyanide.”
The letter was filed amid a rise in political extremism nationwide and coincided with the criminal case against two men accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer who were part of a broader group that discussed stranding her in Lake Michigan. Accused ringleaders Adam Fox and Barry Croft were sentenced to 16 years, and almost 20 years, respectively.
The case involving Biden was filed eight years after Findlay was convicted of threatening to kill Obama with a bomb.
In that case, Findlay was being held in the Ogemaw County Jail on an unrelated bomb threat in September 2013 when he wrote two notes found by jail staff, according to court records.
The first note contained a threat to kill a judge “and the president with a bomb.” The second note read: “I want to bomb the White House.”
Staff also found graffiti on the walls of his jail cell that read: “F——-‘ kill the president bitches” and “Kill Obama.”
Findlay told a U.S. Secret Service agent “that if he were drunk, he would definitely try and kill the president,” according to a transcript of his plea hearing. “Defendant admitted he wanted to kill Barack Obama. Further, defendant stated that once he got out of prison, he would get a rifle, borrow a car, drive to Washington, D.C., and kill the president.”
Findlay was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington recommended Findlay serve the sentence at a prison with a comprehensive drug treatment program.
After being freed, Findlay ran into trouble for violating conditions of his supervised release and was sent back to prison for four months. He was freed in May 2019.
Findlay talked about the Obama threat matter-of-factly while pleading guilty in 2014.
“I’m guilty because I’m the one who wrote it on — on the walls and said that I was going to kill the president, so, yeah, I am guilty of this,” Findlay told the judge.