Trump supporter charged with making threats against US lawmaker
Geoffrey Giglio, a Trump supporter who has previously been questioned by at least four federal law enforcement agencies over similar conduct, was charged this week with threatening a member of US Congress, transmitting interstate threats and making anonymous harassing communications, according to a federal complaint.
The charges stem from violent and profane messages Giglio allegedly left for US Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat and frequent Trump critic.
According to the complaint, Giglio left a voicemail for Swalwell in March warning, 'If you want to keep fighting, then we will come get you.' He referenced a .308 caliber rifle, saying, 'I'll just set up behind my .308 and I'll do my job,' and ended the message with sexually explicit remarks about Swalwell's wife.
In a follow-up call to Swalwell's office in mid-June, after already being questioned by the FBI, Giglio told a staff intern, 'Tell Eric Swalwell that we are coming and that we are going to handle everyone. We are going to hurt everyone,' according to the complaint.
The complaint also details threats Giglio made to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, and to an FBI agent investigating the matter. In a message to Benson, he said, 'We are coming for you,' using explicit language and threatening to 'put her in a hole.' Giglio acknowledged sending the message during a June 3 interview with the FBI, the complaint said.
On June 26, the day before his arrest, Giglio sent several hostile messages to the FBI agent, writing, 'Now I'm coming for you.' the complaint said.
Giglio was arrested in California but was not charged over the threats to Benson or the FBI agent, the complaint said.
The US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, which is prosecuting the case, and the FBI declined to comment. A public defender listed in court records as representing Giglio did not respond to requests for comment. The offices of Swalwell and Benson also did not immediately respond.
The White House condemned the threats against Swalwell. 'As a survivor of multiple assassination attempts, the president takes these matters extremely seriously,' said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields. 'Anyone engaging in such behavior will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.'
The complaint cites a 2024 Reuters investigation that identified Giglio as a persistent source of threats against public officials, including judges, lawmakers and state election officials. Despite multiple investigations by federal agencies, including the FBI and the Secret Service, Giglio had not previously been charged, as his messages often stopped short of the legal threshold for prosecution under the First Amendment, according to the Reuters report.
The arrest comes amid the most sustained wave of US political violence since the 1970s, including two assassination attempts against Trump last year and the murder in June of a former Democratic speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and her husband.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
35 killed in rebel attack in northeast DR Congo
BUNIA: At least 35 people were killed Sunday in an attack by Allied Democratic Forces rebels in northeastern DR Congo, ending a months-long period of regional calm, local sources said. The rebels, originally formed from former Ugandan fighters and which pledged allegiance to Daesh in 2019, raided a Catholic church in the town of Komanda where worshippers were gathered for prayer, residents said. 'We heard gunfire near the parish church ... so far we have seen 35 bodies,' Dieudonne Katanabo, an Umoja neighborhood elder, said. 'We have at least 31 dead members of the Eucharistic Crusade movement, with six seriously injured ... some young people were kidnapped, we have no news of them,' Father Aime Lokana Dhego, parish priest of the Blessed Anuarite parish of Komanda, said. The priest added that seven other bodies had been discovered in the town. Christophe Munyanderu, coordinator of the local NGO Convention for the Respect of Human Rights, gave a provisional death toll of 38. Lt. Jules Ngongo, army spokesman in Ituri, confirmed the attack, stating that 'the enemy is believed to have been identified among ADF' rebels. The bloodshed comes after months of calm in the region of Ituri, bordering Uganda. The last major attack by the ADF was in February, leaving 23 dead in Mambasa territory. The town of Komanda in Irumu territory is a commercial hub linking three other provinces — Tshopo, North Kivu, and Maniema. The ADF, originally Ugandan rebels, has killed thousands of civilians and ramped up looting and killing in northeastern DRC despite the deployment both of the Ugandan army alongside Congolese armed forces in the area. At the end of 2021, Kampala and Kinshasa launched a joint military operation against the ADF, which has so far been unable to dislodge the group.

Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump says EU and US have ‘reached a deal' on trade
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had reached a trade agreement with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen. 'We have reached a deal. It's a good deal for everybody,' Trump told reporters after talks with von der Leyen at his golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland. The EU chief also hailed it as a 'good deal.'


Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
At least 21 killed in attack on east Congo church by Islamic State-backed rebels, civil leader says
GOMA: At least 21 people were killed on Sunday in an attack on a Catholic church in eastern Congo by Islamic State-backed rebels, according to a civil society leader. The military confirmed at least 10 fatalities, while local media reports put the death toll at more than 40. The attack is believed to have been carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) armed with machetes, who stormed the church premises in Ituri province's Komanda town at around 1 a.m. Several houses and shops were also burnt. 'More than 21 people were shot dead inside and outside and we have recorded at least three charred bodies and several houses burned. But the search is continuing,' Dieudonne Duranthabo, civil society coordinator in Komanda, told The Associated Press. Lt. Jules Ngongo, a Congolese army spokesperson in Ituri province, confirmed 10 killed in the attack. Video footage from the scene shared online appeared to show burning structures and bodies on the floor of the church. Those who were able to identify some of the victims wailed while others stood in shock. A UN-backed radio station said 43 people were killed, citing security sources. It said the attackers came from a stronghold around 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the center of Komanda and fled before security forces could arrive. Eastern Congo has suffered deadly attacks in recent years by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed rebels. The ADF, which has ties to the Islamic State, operates in the borderland between Uganda and Congo and often targets civilians. The group killed dozens of people in Ituri earlier this month in what a United Nations spokesperson described as a bloodbath. Duranthabo condemned the attack 'in a town where all the security officials are present.' He added: 'We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town.' The ADF was formed by disparate small groups in Uganda in the late 1990s following alleged discontent with President Yoweri Museveni. In 2002, following military assaults by Ugandan forces, the group moved its activities to neighboring Congo and has since been responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), which has long struggled against the rebel group, has been facing attacks since the renewed hostilities between the Rwanda-backed M23.