A man has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly threatening to commit violence against former President Trump, a federal judge, and the former United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois.
Damien Grant, 33, of Peoria, Ill., is charged with three counts of influencing a federal official by threat, two counts of mailing threatening communications, and one count of threatening the President of the United States. The indictment was returned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Peoria. Arraignment has not yet been scheduled.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Sean M. Cox, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Springfield, Ill., Division of the FBI; William Hedrick, Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago; and Brendan O. Heffner, United States Marshal for the Central District of Illinois. Valuable assistance in the investigation was provided by the Tazewell County, Ill., Sheriff’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois upon recusal by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.
According to the indictment, Grant on Nov. 30, 2020, stated in a letter addressed to the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, “You have 2 days to drop all charges and investigations against me or im going to make sure you never see Christmas…I might have someone walk in the Court House and blow all you evil [expletive] to pieces.”
The indictment accuses Grant of sending similarly threatening letters in December 2020 to President Trump and a U.S. District Judge in the Central District of Illinois.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The charge of threatening the President carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, while each of the other counts in the indictment is punishable by up to ten years. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
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