A 45-year-old Massachusetts man, Andrew D. Emerald, was arrested on Wednesday, April 2, 2026, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, after federal authorities said he made repeated online threats to kill U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI agents executed an arrest warrant at Emerald’s residence shortly before 7:00 a.m. local time. Police said the suspect barricaded himself inside the apartment as officers arrived.
An affidavit filed in support of pre-trial detention states that Emerald emerged during the encounter holding a “long, metallic sword” and a sheath, and told agents to shoot him while refusing to drop the weapon. He then retreated back inside and shut the door. Authorities said a crisis negotiator was brought in, and Emerald was later persuaded to exit the residence, where he was taken into custody without injuries.
Investigators reported that Emerald also told agents they were “lucky they were not from ICE” because he “would have come out of the residence with the sword.” A subsequent search of the home recovered several bladed weapons.
Prosecutors said Emerald made at least eight Facebook posts between May 3, 2025, and July 7, 2025, threatening to injure and kill the president. In one post dated May 3, he wrote: “When I see to it that Trump is put to death. It will be the day the purpose creation put me here for beyond creating.” He added that his daughter’s purpose was “far greater than mine, taking out the orange menace.”
In another post about two weeks later, he wrote: “we’re going to f—ing kill Trump on public television so the world sees what we do to f—ing monsters,” followed by a statement that he would hang the president “from the Statue of Liberty.”
On June 14, 2025, Emerald described the president as “a monster to humanity” and wrote: “I won’t be murdering you I will be executing a monster… fulfilling my constitutional duty.” In a later post on July 7, 2025, he stated: “Trump either you’re dead by 2026 or I’m coming for you personally.”
Authorities said some posts also called on federal agencies to place “the enemy of the United States” in a “body bag or I will.”
A federal grand jury indicted Emerald on eight counts of interstate transmission of threatening communications, each count linked to one of the alleged posts. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Wednesday afternoon.
If convicted, Emerald faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Officials have not indicated that the case involves a wider plot or conspiracy. The investigation is still ongoing.
