A federal grand jury has indicted a 33-year-old Ohio man for allegedly threatening to assassinate United States Vice President JD Vance during his recent visit to the state. The Justice Department confirmed the charges on Friday, identifying the suspect as Shannon Mathre, a resident of Toledo.
Mathre is accused of plotting to take the life of the Vice President and vowing to inflict serious bodily harm. Investigators claim the suspect explicitly stated his intent to track the Vice President’s schedule and use an M14 automatic rifle to carry out the killing. While the statement outlined the gravity of the threat, officials did not specify the exact platform or location where these comments were originally made.
The arrest was carried out by U.S. Secret Service agents on Friday, marking the end of an intensive investigation into the suspect’s activities. This incident is part of a troubling string of security concerns surrounding the Vice President. Just last month, Vance revealed that an individual attempted to break into his Ohio residence by smashing windows with a hammer. Although the Vice President and his family were away at the time, that earlier incident resulted in the arrest of a 26-year-old man.
As federal agents delved deeper into Mathre’s background during the threat investigation, the case took an even darker turn. The Justice Department reported discovering a significant amount of child sexual abuse material in the suspect’s digital files. These findings have added a new layer of severity to the legal proceedings against him.
Mathre made his first appearance in a Northern District of Ohio court on Friday before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. He currently remains in federal custody. A detention hearing has been scheduled for February 11, where a judge will decide if he should be held without bail pending trial.
