A 33-year-old man, Shannon Mathre, has been arrested by the United States Secret Service and charged to court after allegedly making threats to assassinate Vice President JD Vance with an automatic gun during his visit to Ohio in January.

According to a press statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio on Friday, a federal grand jury indicted Mr Mathre of making threats to bodily harm and assassinate Mr Vance, a successor to a U.S. president.

The indictment alleged that the defendant “threatened to find out where he (the vice president) is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him.” 

He was arrested by Secret Service agents on February 6.

In addition, the grand jury also charged the defendant with possession and distribution of images that visually depict minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, the materials he was accused of receiving between December 31, 2025 to January 21, 2026.

As per the attorney office’s statement, digital files of Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM) were found in possession of Mr Mathre while authorities were investigating the threats he allegedly made against the vice president.

The defendant made an initial appearance before the U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Ohio on February 6 and he remains in custody ahead of a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Mr Mathre faces up to five years’ imprisonment and a possible $250,000 fine for threats to assassinate Mr Vance as well as a maximum of 20 years prison terms and another $250,000 fine if found guilty of CSAM possession.

Reacting to the indictment, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said “Our attorneys are vigorously prosecuting this disgusting threat against Vice President Vance. You can hide behind a screen, but you cannot hide from this Department of Justice.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche thanked local, state and federal officials for working together to capture Mr Mathre.

“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,” Mr Blanche said.

He added “Thank you to federal, state and local partners in working together to bring justice twofold to this depraved individual.”