A New Hampshire man who was charged with threatening to kill Vivek Ramaswamy and his supporters at a campaign event has been indicted by a federal grand jury with additional counts for threatening the lives of former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, another unnamed presidential candidate and other people, according to an indictment filed on Wednesday.
The man, Tyler Anderson, 30, of Dover, now faces three counts of transmitting threats for having texted death threats to three presidential candidates campaigning in New Hampshire, the authorities say. The text messages were sent in three separate episodes in late November and early December. The last set of messages, sent on Dec. 8, was directed at Mr. Ramaswamy.
Karl Rickett, a spokesman for the Christie campaign, confirmed on Thursday that Mr. Christie was the target of the second episode, on Dec. 6. The texts directed at Mr. Christie were found on Mr. Anderson’s phone, according to an F.B.I. affidavit.
Mr. Anderson was arrested on Dec. 9 after federal agents tracked text messages threatening Mr. Ramaswamy to his phone and home address, the affidavit said. His phone was seized during the arrest, and the messages directed at Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. Christie were found on it. Firearms were also seized during Mr. Anderson’s arrest.
In an interview with an F.B.I. agent after his arrest, Mr. Anderson acknowledged sending threatening messages to Mr. Ramaswamy and other presidential candidates, according to the affidavit. The messages sent to Mr. Christie’s campaign, photos of which were included in court documents, threatened to kill Mr. Christie and others at a campaign event in a “mass shooting.” Officials redacted information in the photos that would have identified Mr. Christie as the target.
The Christie campaign previously declined to say it had been targeted by the threats, but a campaign statement this month thanked law enforcement officials for “moving quickly to address these threats.”
Mr. Anderson was released on Dec. 14 on the condition that he avoid contact with presidential candidates and their campaigns. His arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 5.
In the first incident, on Nov. 22, Mr. Anderson sent a series of text messages threatening to “impale” and “disembowel” an unnamed presidential candidate, according to the indictment.
Mr. Anderson sent additional text messages on Dec. 8 threatening to kill a third presidential candidate — later identified as Mr. Ramaswamy — and attendees of a campaign event scheduled in Portsmouth, federal prosecutors said. Those texts were sent as replies to an automated campaign message, and they implied that the threat would be carried out with a firearm. The threats to Mr. Christie were also sent as replies to an automated campaign message.
A staff member for the Ramaswamy campaign reported the texts to the local police, and the F.B.I. conducted the investigation that led to Mr. Anderson’s arrest.
Each of the three charges has a maximum sentence of five years in prison and three years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000.
