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Friday, May 15, 2026

Virginia man who threatened to kidnap, kill Barack Obama, Kamala Harris jailed 30 months

FBI conducted a search warrant at the convict’s home and confiscated a 9 mm pistol, an AR-15 rifle, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

• May 15, 2026
Kamala Harris and Barack Obama
Barack Obama and Kamala Harris [Credit: The York Magazine]

A Winchester, Virginia man, Frank Lucio Carillo, has been sentenced to two years and six months in jail, for making posts on a social media platform, GETTR, threatening to kill, kidnap or injure former President, Barack Obama, and former Vice-President Kamala Harris.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, western district of Virginia, in a statement on Thursday, said Mr Carillo, 68, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty in April 2025, to one count of sending threatening communications through interstate commerce.

According to court documents, Mr Carillo used the social media platform GETTR to post thousands of messages using the name ‘joemadarats1’.

The statement also disclosed that, on July 27, 2024, FBI Phoenix received information about a threat against an employee of the Maricopa County, Arizona, Recorder’s Office, posted on the platform by a user with the name ‘joemadarats1’.

A search by the FBI on the GETTR account showed that, approximately 4,359 posts, comments, and replies were made by the user to target “public officials including, but not limited Vice-President Kamala Harris, and former President Barrack Obama”, while in February 2024, he posted having his “AR-15 locked and loaded”.

FBI, on August 2, 2024, also conducted a search warrant at the convict’s home and confiscated a 9 mm pistol, an AR-15 rifle, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

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