OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoman pleaded guilty Aug. 2 to threatening the lives of three state governors and a U.S. senator via the social media platform Twitter.
Tyler Jay Marshall, 37, of Enid, was named in a criminal complaint filed May 19 in Oklahoma City’s federal district court, and he was indicted June 6 by a federal grand jury here.
An FBI special agent reported in a sworn affidavit that Marshall emailed tweets in which he vowed to assassinate Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and kill her family too, 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.
A federal grand jury indicted Marshall on two counts: threatening to murder a U.S. official (Cruz) and interstate transmission of threatening communications (to all four individuals).
Marshall admitted his guilt on the latter charge; the maximum penalty for that offense is five years’ imprisonment and /or a $250,000 fine. The other charge will be dismissed at Marshall’s sentencing, which has not been scheduled yet.
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 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.
Marshall has been in federal custody for the last three months, officials indicated.