Former Coast Guard lieutenant arrested and charged with threats to kill President Trump
A former Coast Guard lieutenant who received awards for skills in sharpshooting was arrested Monday for allegedly leveling a series of violent death threats towards President Donald Trump, according to newly unsealed court records.
Peter Stinson, a resident of Oakton, Virginia, served as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard until 2021 and also worked as an instructor for FEMA's Incident Command Systems, according to his criminal complaint.
Prosecutors say he was also a self-identified member of the Antifa movement and used his X and Bluesky accounts to transmit multiple threatening posts targeting Trump from 2020 through this year.
For instance, in April of 2020 prosecutors say Stinson responded to a post from an X user saying "somebody ought sue [Trump's] a** off" by saying, "somebody ought to do more than sue the orange mf's a**" before adding, "it involves a rifle and a scope, but I can't talk about it here."
"I'd be willing to pitch in $100 for a contract. Who wants to join me?" Stinson said. "We could solve the solvable part of this problem in a crack. Then, we can focus on the coronavirus itself."
The complaint cites numerous other examples of Stinson replying to users with threatening language, suggesting he would "pull the trigger" to get rid of Trump or would be the "driver" if someone else were willing to assassinate him.
Stinson's posts allegedly continued through the 2024 election cycle, and after the Butler assassination attempt on Trump, he wrote the following messages: "Most of us are not capable. As noted before, I'm not a good enough shot. Very few people are. Somebody needs to learn this lesson... You want to play in the big leagues, you need the talent. Luck is not a plan... Execution is critical."
Stinson has not entered a plea to the charges and was ordered detained by a magistrate judge today in Virginia pending a detention hearing Wednesday.
