Ohio man charged with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance

A 33-year-old Ohio man has been charged with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance, the Department of Justice announced.

On Feb. 6, Secret Service agents arrested Shannon Mathre, of Toledo, after a grand jury returned a two-count indictment against him.

Federal prosecutors accused Mathre of threatening to kill Vance during the vice president’s visit to Ohio in January. Vance spoke at a Toledo industrial shipping facility on ‌Jan. 22.

According to the Feb. 4 indictment, which was unsealed Feb. 6, Mathre allegedly said he would ‌find where the vice president would be and “use my ‌M14 automatic gun and kill him.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Ohio’s northern district declined to provide more information on Mathre’s alleged statement, citing the ongoing investigation.

As investigators looked into Mathre’s alleged threats against Vance, prosecutors said ​Mathre also had digital files of child sexual abuse ‌materials. In addition to a ⁠count of making threats against the president and successors to the presidency, Mathre is also charged with receipt and distribution of ‌child pornography.

On Feb. 6, Mathre pleaded not guilty to the two counts in federal court in Toledo, records show. Magistrate Judge Darrell Clay ordered Mathre temporarily detained until his next ‌hearing on Feb. 11.

“While arresting this man for allegedly threatening to murder the Vice President of the United States, a serious crime in and of itself, federal law enforcement discovered that he was also in possession ‌of child sexual abuse materials,” ​Todd ‌Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said in a Feb. 6 statement.

In a Feb. 7 email, Neil McElroy, Mathre’s lawyer, said he couldn’t comment on the second child pornography charge since the government hadn’t provided discovery ‌yet. But McElroy called the first charge against Mathre − of allegedly threatening the vice president − a “farce.” The allegation, he said, “may buttress the administration’s narrative regarding threats of violence ​aimed at members of the administration.”

Mathre faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 for threats against the vice president, prosecutors said. The child pornography charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and ⁠up to a $250,000 fine.

Vance is an Ohio native who formerly represented the ​state in the Senate. USA TODAY has reached out to the vice ⁠president’s office for comment.