In a recent development, the United States Justice Department has brought serious charges against an individual from Arizona, identified as David Hanson, for issuing death threats against prominent political figures including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Additionally, Hanson faces accusations of threatening to execute a mass shooting at the University of New Mexico. These allegations came to light through screen captures shared by Seamus Hughes of the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center.
The communication containing these threats was discovered on a social media platform known as X. In one of the messages, Hanson demanded the resignation of Biden and Harris, failing which he threatened their brutal murder. Another message contained a threat to bomb the White House, and this was further illustrated by a reference to the movie “Independence Day,” where a similar incident is depicted.
What’s notable is that these claims are substantiated by the filing from the Department of Justice. In what can be seen as a particularly brazen act, one post included a threat to assassinate the President and Vice President using a screenshot from a job application to Goodwill, which bizarrely included the name “Michael Hanson.”
Hanson reportedly used multiple accounts for posting these threats, with usernames like @popyourcherry24 and @trump20286more. The timeline of these posts spans from November 19, 2023, to December 23, 2023. Despite the severity of the messages, Hanson allegedly told law enforcement officials that the threats were inconsequential as his social media accounts had negligible following.
Moreover, one of the tweets, which disturbingly remains accessible online, shared a video posted by Vice President Harris accompanied by the hashtag #kamalaisdead. Earlier in the same year, Hanson had allegedly threatened to carry out a mass shooting at the University of New Mexico, where he was enrolled in a film class.
This threat followed an incident involving Hanson and a female student, which led to a formal complaint against him. As a result, the university revoked Hanson’s admission and his student loans, a decision made without considering Hanson’s perspective on the incident.
Hanson, expressing deep emotional distress, mentioned that the university had contacted him to investigate the incident further, including his account of events. However, there were changes made to the schedule of the online interview or a possible retraction of the interview offer altogether.
In one of his video posts on the social media site X, dated November 19, 2023, Hanson can be seen ranting about various grievances. He makes grandiose claims about his wealth and fame, refers to political figures like Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan, and even makes bizarre references to “The Matrix.” In this video, he also makes a hand gesture associated with the “Three Percenters” militia group and ends his tirade with a reference to the Suns basketball team.
