A Virginia man was arrested late last week, accused by the FBI of making online threats to kill Vice President Kamala Harris and other public officials.
According to court records reviewed by Newsweek, Frank Carillo of Winchester, Virginia, was charged with making threats against the vice president of the United States after investigators found that he had made several threatening statements on microblogging platform GETTR. Carillo had his first court appearance in the Western District of Virginia on Monday, where a judge ruled that the defendant be detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday.
FBI special agent Melissa Macaron wrote in a criminal complaint that investigators first received reports of Carillo’s posts on July 27 after he made an online threat toward a Maricopa County election official in Phoenix, Arizona. The threat read in part, “somebody needs to kill this f***.” The name of the official was redacted from the court documents.
Agents at the FBI’s Phoenix office made requests to GETTR to review more of Carillo’s account and it was discovered that he had made approximately 4,359 posts targeting various public officials, according to court documents. The names included Harris, President Joe Biden, FBI Director Christopher Wray and others who were not mentioned in the records.
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Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris delivers remarks in Houston, Texas, on August 1. The FBI arrested a Virginia man late last week after he was accused of making several online threats toward… Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris delivers remarks in Houston, Texas, on August 1. The FBI arrested a Virginia man late last week after he was accused of making several online threats toward Harris and other public officials.
MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Image
Investigators say that Carillo mentioned Harris 19 times on his social media account, including in one threat made on July 27, which read, “Kamala Harris needs to be put on fire alive I will do it personally if no one else does it I want her to suffer a slow agonizing death.”
In another post on the same day, Carillo wrote, according to court documents, “Harris is going to regret ever trying to become president because if that ever happened I will personally pluck out her eyes with a pair of pliers but first I will shoot and kill everyone that gets in my way that is a f****** promise.”
The July 27 post arrived just six days after Harris announced her bid for the Oval Office and two weeks after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Since the shooting, which left Trump with an injury to the tip of his right ear, law enforcement charged two Florida men in threats against public officials. One, arrested July 15 by the Secret Service, was accused of threatening to kill Biden. The second, arrested on July 19, was charged with making threats toward Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
Carillo was also accused of making several posts that talked about using firearms to shoot people. The criminal complaint included examples of threats that targeted Muslims, immigrants and Canadian Prime Minister Justice Trudeau.
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FBI officials identified Carillo through subscriber information provided by GETTR. A search warrant of his residence was carried out on Friday, during which law enforcement found a RF-15 rifle and 9 mm handgun. Carillo also asked an officer during the search if it was “about the online stuff” he “posted,” according to authorities.
He was arrested following the search and the felony charge against him carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Newsweek reached out to the public defender assigned to Carillo via email for comment on Monday.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia said in a news release related to Carillo’s arrest, “Open political discourse is a cornerstone of our American experience. We can disagree. We can argue and we can debate. However, when those disagreements cross the line to threats of violence, law enforcement must step in.”
A Richmond, Virginia, woman lost more than $30,000 after police say she fell victim to a scam.
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RICHMOND, Virginia (WTVR) — A Richmond, Virginia, woman lost more than $30,000 after police say she fell victim to a scam.
CBS 6 Crime Insider Jon Burkett spoke to Frank Oley, her financial adviser and Greg Wade, a Richmond detective about how this happened.
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The woman got an email which appeared to be from PayPal.
“It was about the purchase of some type of malware and if you didn’t want it to call a certain number,” Wade said.
She then called the number and got swindled.
“After the transaction was done, he said, ‘You added too many zeroes,’ and, ‘Oh, my God, I’m going to lose my job, it’s Christmas time and I have kids,’ laid it on thick to her. This client being such a nice, honest and decent person felt sorry for this guy,” Wade explained.
The woman felt so bad she withdrew a total of $34,300 from two banks in an effort to pay for what she thought was her mistake.
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The scammer instructed her to load the cash into a bitcoin machine along Azalea Avenue. It took her two hours and 873 separate transactions to do.
Detective Wade got a search warrant and told the store to shut the machine down. A representative came to open it, and the woman’s money was still there.
Her money is being held as evidence for now, but she will get it all back.
“The good news is with George, the Richmond City Police Department, we got the money back,” Oley said.
Wade says the scammer was traced to a location outside the United States.
East Carolina cornerback Isaiah Brown-Murray (26) committed to Virginia Tech on Saturday night. (East Carolina athletics)
Isaiah Brown-Murray Cornerback East Carolina 5-10, 191 2 years remaining (r-Jr.)
Virginia Tech received a commitment from East Carolina cornerback Isaiah Brown-Murray on Saturday night.
The Charlotte, N.C, native tallied 63 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in three seasons with the Pirates. He deflected 11 passes over that span, intercepting one, while forcing a fumble and recovering one.
He led ECU’s defense with 830 snaps this season, per PFF. He graded out well, too: 74.0 overall, 74.1 in run defense, 80.4 in tackling and 73.2 in coverage. Those marks ranked 13th, 12th, sixth and 13th at his position in the AAC, respectively.
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For comparison, here’s where his grades stack up against Hokies cornerbacks Dorian Strong and Mansoor Delane:
In some ways, he’s a mix of Strong (coverage) and Delane (run defense, tackling). More than anything, though, he’s played 1,246 snaps in his career and is immediately the most experienced player in Tech’s cornerback room. With Strong and Delane gone, Dante Lovett has the most returning career snaps with 244.
Brown-Murray slid into ECU’s No. 1 cornerback role in Week 4 at Liberty after Shavon Revel, a projected first-round NFL Draft pick, tore his ACL in the third game of the season. The redshirt sophomore notched his first career interception against the Flames and returned it 34 yards, and he also forced his first career fumble that game. In the next outing vs. UTSA, he recovered a fumble for the first time.
A product of Hough High School in Cornelius, N.C., Brown-Murray was a three-star recruit in the 2022 class and a top-40 prospect in the state. He held Power Four offers from Arkansas, Louisville and Kansas while being heavily pursued from Group of Five schools like Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Liberty, Marshall and Old Dominion. He showed his versatility as a senior by scoring five all-purpose touchdowns: one interception return, two punt returns and two kickoff returns.
With the addition of Brown-Murray, the Hokies have eight scholarship cornerbacks for the 2025 season. He’ll slot in alongside Lovett and ahead of a young trio of Thomas Williams (r-So.), Krystian Williams (r-So.) and Joshua Clarke (r-Fr.). They’re all expected to see time in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Minnesota on Jan. 3. Tech also has three incoming freshmen at that position in Knahlij Harrell, Jordan Crim and Jahmari DeLoatch.
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He’s the fifth transfer portal addition of the offseason for the Hokies, joining Clemson safety Sherrod Covil Jr., Bowling Green running back Terion Stewart, Central Missouri running back Marcellous Hawkins and Hampton defensive tackle Jahzari Priester.
For more information on Virginia Tech’s comings and goings in the portal, click here for Tech Sideline’s roster management page.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Erik Reynolds II knocked down five 3-pointers and put up 25 points to help Saint Joseph’s pull away from Virginia Tech to earn an 82-62 win on Saturday.
The victory gave the Hawks their first back-to-back wins since they won three straight in November.
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Reynolds hit from behind the arc with 27 seconds left in the first half to send the Hawks (8-4) into intermission with a 32-30 lead. After the Hokies got two free throws to start the second half, Reynolds’ layup kicked off a 10-0 run to take a double-digit lead at 42-32. Derek Simpson’s second 3 of the half made it a 47-34 lead with under 16 to play. Ben Hammond hit from deep to get Virginia Tech within 10 at 54-44, but Anthony Finkley answered with a 3 and Reynolds followed with a layup as the Hawks pulled away.
Reynolds was 10 of 19 from the field, including 5 of 11 from deep, with three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Simpson was 4 of 8 from 3-point range and scored 18 and Rasheer Fleming was 8 for 8 from the line to add 18 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Finkley chipped in 13 points by hitting 3 of 4 from deep. Saint Joseph’s was 15 of 32 from long range.
Hammond finished with 11 points and Ben Burnham was 3-for-3 from distance off the bench to add another 11.
Saint Joseph’s plays host to Delaware State December 28 before opening Atlantic 10 Conference play against UMass on New Year’s Eve.
Virginia Tech (5-7, 0-1) returns to Atlantic Coast Conference play New Year’s Eve at No. 5 Duke.
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