A Jacksonville man arrested by federal authorities this past fall for threatening the current and former President of the United States, and a former Secretary of State pleaded guilty to federal charges last Friday.
According to a federal indictment, Mouser was alleged to have threatened President Joe Biden’s life in posts to X (formerly known as Twitter) under the username @tryntakeit on August 10th and August 11th and also allegedly threatened to shoot Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton on August 9th in subsequent posts.
According to the complaint, an officer from the Jacksonville Police Department and a Secret Service agent made contact with Mouser at his residence on August 23rd where Mouser allegedly admitted to posting the threats and that he stood behind the content of the tweets. Mouser claimed that both officers were attempting to silence him and deny him his First Amendment rights to Freedom of Speech. Mouser then allegedly posted on Twitter after the visit verifying that he had admitted to law enforcement he had made the threats, and that he believed federal agents would come back to his home at night and kill him and his family. Mouser said in the follow up posts that he wouldn’t go quietly and that he would shoot law enforcement and their families.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen McNaught originally set bail at $10,000, but prosecutors objected to the idea, contending that Mouser posed a threat to law enforcement and the public if he were to be released based upon separate posts. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Seberger objected to Mouser’s release and requested a stay on Mouser’s release. On September 8th, 2023, Mouser was ordered detained by U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless, agreeing with prosecutors referencing the tweet about law enforcement in her ruling. Mouser has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals in Springfield since that time.
On Friday, Mouser pleaded guilty to the single-count federal indictment in front of Magistrate Judge Karen McNaught.
Threatening the President of the United States or those under the watch of the Secret Service is considered a Class D federal felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison, a potential maximum fine of $250,000 plus a special assessment of $100, and up to 3 years of mandatory supervised release.
A sentencing date for Mouser has been scheduled for May 29th in Springfield in front of Judge Colleen Lawless.