Virginia
Virginia man threatened to set Kamala Harris on fire, FBI says
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.
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.
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.”
(WSET) — If you haven’t spotted them yet, you probably will soon.
The peak of spotted lanternfly season is just beginning, and the heat isn’t stopping them. It may actually be speeding up their development.
Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent Scott Baker says this year, the eggs began hatching roughly two weeks earlier than they did last year. He says this is because of some warmer-than-normal temperatures in the spring and summer months.
READ ALSO: Shark Week returns to Lynchburg Aqua Zoo with interactive exhibits, live shark feedings
The sooner lanternflies hatch, the sooner they progress through their stages of immaturity to adulthood, where they become the recognizable, winged adults.
That’s when you’re most likely to see them flying around in your backyard.
“So based on the temperatures that we have accumulated this year, people should begin to see the adults now, and then they will continue to see more and more adults, less of the immature stages,” Baker says. “And I would say by the end of July or early August, they’ll be seeing only adults”
Even though these pesky bugs are a nuisance, Baker says they don’t actually do that much damage.
When the invasive species first migrated south to Virginia around 2021, Baker says experts took more caution towards them. Now they appear to be less destructive, except to specific grapevine plants.
READ ALSO: Copper theft blamed for power outage that affected over 1,000 in Danville
Baker adds that other animals adapt by feeding on the lanternflies, which helps to control the population.
“The longer that the insect is in a particular area, the more we are seeing things start to feed on them, like other insects, spiders, birds,” Baker says. “I think Mother Nature, over time, will begin to help us regulate the population outside of what we can do, which is good news.”
If you have any concerns about handling your plants as these bugs hit peak season, agents at the Virginia Cooperative Extension are a free resource and happy to help.
Clarkston — A Virginia man accused of driving drunk on I-75 in northern Oakland County and plowing his truck into a car on the side of the freeway, killing a Pontiac family of four, has been charged with second-degree murder.
Charles Dean Pace, 27, of Glen Allen, Virginia, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday morning to four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing death. He’s being held without bond.
Second-degree murder in Michigan is punishable by any number of years in prison, including a life sentence.
Pace is accused of killing Zakeria Dodson, 23, Tieree Powell, 24, Nalani Powell, 3, and Karter Powell, 2 on July 1 when he crashed into their stalled vehicle with his Ford F-250 on Interstate 75 in Springfield Township. Investigators reported Pace’s blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.
“Zakeria, Tieree, Nalani and Karter did not die in an accident,” said Prosecutor Karen McDonald in a press release Tuesday. “They were murdered because of this defendant’s alleged choices — to drive drunk, to drive fast and to drive recklessly — that created an obvious and unnecessary danger. “This is a rare charge, but we believe we can show the most extreme indifference to human life.”
Pace is being held in the Oakland County jail after Magistrate Judge Michael Bosnic denied him bond, according to court records.
Pace’s attorney, Elias Muawad, said this decision was made because Pace is not from Michigan, he had a previous alcohol-related offense in 2020 and due to the seriousness of the charges.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office said while second-degree murder charges for vehicular homicide are rare, they’re not unprecedented. Angel Melendez-Ortiz was convicted of second-degree murder after he killed two people while fleeing police by driving the wrong way on the Lodge freeway in January 2024. He was sentenced to 74 years in prison in June 2025.
mbryan@detroitnews.com
Virginia
Virginia man charged with murder in crash that killed family of 4 on I-75 in Oakland County
A Virginia man has been charged with murder in a crash that killed a family of four on I-75 in Oakland County earlier this month.
Charles Dean Pace, 27, of Glen Allen, Virginia, is charged with four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of operating while intoxicated causing death, according to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.
The crash happened around 9:10 p.m. on July 1 on southbound I-75 near East Holly Road in Springfield Township.
Prosecutors allege Pace was driving a Ford F-250 truck on the southbound lanes at a high speed, exceeding 90 miles per hour, while weaving in and out of lanes.
Pace’s truck struck a disabled Chrysler 300 on the side of the road, killing its occupants, a family of four: 23-year-old Zakeria Sharon Dodson, 24-year-old Tieree Powell, 3-year-old Nalani Powell, and 2-year-old Karter Powell. Pace’s blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit, according to prosecutors.
“Zakeria, Tieree, Nalani and Karter did not die in an accident,” said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald. “They were murdered because of this defendant’s alleged choices — to drive drunk, to drive fast and to drive recklessly — that created an obvious and unnecessary danger. “This is a rare charge, but we believe we can show the most extreme indifference to human life.”
Pace is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday in the 52-2 District Court in Clarkston, according to prosecutors.
If convicted on second-degree murder charges, Pace faces up to life in prison, while a charge of operating while intoxicated causing a death carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
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