Technology
Man arrested after alleged death threats against Kushner and Trump Jr.
Nine weeks after police say Chase Bliss Colasurdo boasted on Instagram of getting away with death threats against President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Colasurdo is behind bars and charged with two federal counts of interstate threats.
In a lurid photo on what investigators say is his Instagram profile dated February 27, Colasurdo could be seen wearing reflective blue sunglasses and holding a gun with his finger on the trigger.
“Weird…. I made a death threat against Jared Kushner yesterday and I have not been arrested yet. Almost like I have special forces murdering anyone trying to fuck with me or something,” the caption read.
But Colasurdo, 27, was arrested May 1, according to court documents. Authorities raided his home in Kent, Washington, and seized multiple guns, ballistic armor, ammunition, LED laser mounts, night vision goggles, and even a gas mask — along with Nazi paraphernalia including a flag with a swastika and a framed portrait of Adolph Hitler.
The arrest came after weeks of increasingly bizarre and violent photos and captions on what investigators said was Colasurdo’s Instagram page.
Though FBI and Secret Service agents interviewed Colasurdo about the alleged posts on March 19, Colasurdo told them someone hacked his account and that he had no plan to hurt anyone. He also said he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2015.
Threats against Kushner and Trump Jr.
On February 26, a criminal complaint said Colasurdo emailed five media outlets saying he would “personally Execute [White House Senior Advisor J.K.] for his countless treasonous crimes.”
The document did not identify Kushner by name, but Colasurdo’s alleged Instagram page, which was still public as of Friday afternoon, explicitly named Kushner and featured photos of him.
In another February 27 Instagram photo, a gun could be seen aimed at an image of Kushner. On February 28, a photo of Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, was captioned with a threat that his head “might get blown the f— off.”
Read more: Facebook is barring a bunch of far-right figures and conspiracy theorists, including Alex Jones
But Colasurdo wasn’t arrested until one month after investigators discovered that Colasurdo had tried to purchase a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol online, along with ammunition and body armor. His purchase was denied and refunded after a background check, and authorities arrested him one month later.
Kushner and Trump Jr. were far from the only alleged targets of Colasurdo’s rage. A number of celebrities, politicians, and media personalities also appear on the Instagram account in photos with various racist, sexist, or violent captions.
Colasurdo is also under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department for cyberstalking and threatening to kill local reporters there, according to documents.
A tip from a concerned citizen
INSIDER’s review of Colasurdo’s alleged Instagram page revealed prolific activity, often with dozens of posts appearing per day. The captions were littered with anti-Semitic remarks and threats, and violence was a near-constant theme. The top of Colasurdo’s alleged profile described the posts as “autistic fiction.”
Colasurdo’s arrest comes as social-media companies debate how best to crack down on violence, conspiracy theories, and hatred on their platforms. Instagram did not immediately respond to INSIDER’s request for comment on why Colasurdo’s alleged profile was still public, and the death threats still viewable as of Friday afternoon.
The FBI was eventually alerted to Colasurdo’s alleged Instagram posts on March 16 via a tip from a concerned citizen, court documents said. The FBI and Secret Service investigated the account, eventually digging up another March 4 post that again boasted about getting away with death threats.
“I would just like to let the secret service know that I am going to Execute this f—–,” a caption on a picture of Trump, Jr., read. “And there is nothing you can do about it, as indicated by the fact that I have been posting death threats against politicians for like a week and am still here posting.”
According to the court documents, Colasurdo was twice arrested on assault charges in 2015, in one case after he tried to steal a police officer’s gun while handcuffed to a hospital bed. The indictment said Colasurdo struggled with the officer, eventually kicking him in the face. Colasurdo later pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fourth-degree assault and malicious mischief.
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