SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah man accused of constructing violent threats towards President Joe Biden earlier than a visit to Salt Lake City final week pointed a handgun at FBI brokers making an attempt to arrest him, the company stated on Monday.
Craig Robertson, a 75-year-old Air Force veteran, was killed throughout a raid on his dwelling in Provo final Wednesday, hours earlier than Biden arrived. FBI brokers went to his dwelling early within the morning to arrest him for 3 felonies, together with making threats towards the president and brokers who had been investigating him for months, in keeping with courtroom data unsealed after the raid.
“Robertson resisted arrest and as agents attempted to take him into custody, he pointed a .357 revolver at them,” FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker stated in an announcement Monday.
Two legislation enforcement sources – who spoke to The Associated Press final week on the situation of anonymity to debate particulars of an ongoing investigation – stated Robertson was armed on the time of the capturing. Monday’s assertion offers extra particulars about Robertson‘s weapon and that he pointed it at officers. The FBI didn’t reply to questions on whether or not Robertson shot at brokers or if brokers have been carrying physique cameras whereas making an attempt to arrest Robertson.
Two of Robertson’s kids didn’t instantly reply to social media or phone messages in search of touch upon the assertion. But final week, they rebuffed the concept that he might have harm anybody.
For months, Robertson had been making threats towards high-profile Democrats, together with key gamers within the authorized proceedings towards former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden. The threats grew extra particular within the lead-up to the president’s go to, with Robertson threatening on social media to put on a camouflage “ghillie suit” and “dust off the M24 sniper rifle” to “welcome” the president.
Those threats adopted months of Robertson posting pictures on social media of varied firearms, which he known as “eradication tools,” together with threats towards public officers. The posts painted a markedly totally different image of Robertson than how some neighbors described him, as a caring, non secular man.
Several neighbors stated Robertson – a homebound, chubby man who used a cane to stroll – wasn’t shy about his right-wing political opinions. But they questioned whether or not he posed a reputable sufficient menace to the president to justify the raid.
They stated FBI brokers arrived early within the morning to aim an arrest of Robertson. Several who knew Robertson stated his dwelling and the 2 sheds behind it contained massive caches of firearms, which he modified as a post-retirement passion.
Katie Monson, Robertson’s next-door neighbor, stated final week that she noticed brokers try and breach his entrance door with a battering ram earlier than driving a tactical automobile onto his garden, shut sufficient to pierce his entrance window.
She subsequently heard an trade of pictures earlier than tactical officers dragged Robertson onto the sidewalk to attend for emergency medical personnel. FBI investigators spent the remainder of the day clearing the house and photographing proof.
The FBI additionally stated on Monday that its inspection division would proceed to evaluate the capturing. FBI investigations into shootings involving brokers usually take months.
• Associated Press writers Colleen Slevin in Denver and Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed reporting.
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