A 45-year-old Great Barrington man was taken into federal custody Wednesday morning following a series of explicit social media posts targeting President Donald J. Trump.
Andrew D. Emerald now faces eight counts of interstate transmission of threatening communications, according to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury.
The charges stem from a three-month window between May and July 2025. Prosecutors allege that Emerald used Facebook to broadcast increasingly violent plans, at one point daring federal law enforcement to intervene.
“Do you hear that FBI and any other organization that wants to show up at my f****** door?” one post from May 13 read. “Put the enemy of the United States in a f****** body bag or I will.”
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The indictment details a pattern of specific threats involving Mar-a-Lago and graphic descriptions of violence. In a May 30 post, Emerald allegedly referenced a past incident to emphasize his intent: “I burned a house to the ground once in my life on accident when I burn you to the ground, it will very much be by intention.” Other posts claimed he was “hunting him down” and described the potential assassination as a “constitutional duty.”
By July, the rhetoric intensified with Emerald allegedly setting a deadline, stating that if the President was not dead by 2026, he would take personal action to ensure he “suffered.”
The arrest was announced by U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge for the Boston Division. The investigation saw collaboration between the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and local Great Barrington police.
Emerald is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court in Springfield at 2:30 p.m. today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow is leading the prosecution.
If convicted, Emerald faces a significant legal bridge. Each charge of interstate transmission of threatening communications carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
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