74-year-old Craig Deleeuw Robertson of Provo, Utah, was shot and killed early Wednesday morning as the FBI attempted to serve a warrant at his home. According to reports, Robertson was armed and had made multiple threats against President Joe Biden, who was traveling to the state later in the day.
The shooting happened around 6:15 am local time as agents attempted to serve search and arrest warrants at Robertson’s home.
Video recorded by neighbors, and obtained by CBS News, showed the raid, during which apparent flashbangs were seen. One neighbor told CBS News they heard about six gunshots and said the man’s body was eventually brought out to the street.
A criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Utah and obtained by CBS News details graphic threats gathered during an FBI investigation against a number of public officials. The suspect named in the complaint, Craig Deleeuw Robertson, was charged with three federal counts, including threats against a president. Authorities have not publicly confirmed the man who was killed is the man named in the complaint.
Online posts also showed an intent to kill Mr. Biden, the complaint said. In a post dated Aug. 6, Robertson allegedly wrote, “I hear Biden is coming to Utah,” and that he was “cleaning the dust off his M24 sniper.” The complaint showed photos of the suspect with a long-range rifle and a type of camouflage known as a ghillie suit.
As news of the raid emerged, so, too, came details of numerous online posts allegedly made by Robertson threatening Joe Biden and numerous other officials, though neighbors described a man who was elderly and frail.
Neighbors described Robertson as a frail, elderly man — his online profile put his age as 74 — who walked with the aid of a hand-carved stick. Though he regularly carried guns, they said he didn’t seem a threat.
“There’s no way that he was driving from here to Salt Lake City, setting up a rifle and taking a shot at the president — 100% no way,” said neighbor Andrew Maunder outside the church across from Robertson’s street.
Still, the posts allegedly made by Robertson are disturbing.
Robertson posted online Monday that he had heard Biden was coming to Utah and he was planning to dig out a camouflage suit and begin “cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle,” a post that came after months of graphic online threats against several public figures, according to court documents. Robertson referred to himself as a “MAGA Trumper,” a reference to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, and also posted threats against top law enforcement officials overseeing court cases against Trump.
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Robertson also referenced a “presidential assassination” and also posted threats against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and New York Attorney General Letitia James, authorities said.
“The time is right for a presidential assassination or two. First Joe then Kamala!!!” authorities say Robertson wrote in a September 2022 Facebook post included in the filings. No attorney was immediately listed for Robertson in court documents and family members of Robertson could not be immediately reached for comment through publicly available phone numbers.
Per reports, the FBI opened their investigation into Robertson in March after he made threats against Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg following Bragg’s indictment of Donald Trump.
“I’ll be waiting in the courthouse parking garage with my suppressed Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm to smoke a radical fool prosecutor that should never have been elected,” the post read in part, according to the complaint.
Neighbors also provided video of the raid.