OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoman is charged in federal court here with threatening the lives of three state governors and a United States senator via the social media platform Twitter.
A criminal complaint charges Tyler Jay Marshall, 36, of Enid, with transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester announced.
Marshall is accused of sending “tweets” in which he vowed to assassinate Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Multiple tweets were sent to Stitt, including “Can’t wait to watch you die” and “Misplaced a bomb.” Other tweets included “I’m gonna shoot you soon,” directed to Cruz; “I’ll see you dead in your home,” sent to DeSantis; “You will look good with a hole in your head” and “Can’t wait to murder your family. See you soon,” sent to Sanders.
The FBI served an Emergency Disclosure Request on Twitter, seeking subscriber details associated with a particular Twitter account that was created with the email address of gopshoulddiesoon@gmail.com.
Additionally, Twitter and Google both provided the FBI with the internet protocol (IP) address associated with that email account. And the internet service provider informed the FBI that that IP address was assigned to an individual who resides in a house in Enid where Marshall began living after he was evicted from his home last December.
A search warrant was executed at the Enid residence on May 19, and Marshall told investigators he was renting a room there. According to an FBI agent, Marshall acknowledged that the Twitter account in question was his and that he created it to “troll people online” one night when he was drunk.
A U.S. magistrate judge on May 25 ordered Marshall detained pending trial because of:
• Evidence of extreme mental health crisis.
• Heavy alcohol use/abuse.
• Recent suicidal thoughts.
• Extremely violent threats.
The case against Marshall resulted from an investigation by the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office with assistance from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Enid Police Department.