A Nevada man stands accused of threatening to kill President Donald Trump and thousands of supporters while boasting online about an arsenal of high-powered firearms, federal prosecutors said.
Jason Utlaut of Henderson faces up to five years in federal prison if convicted on a federal charge of threatening the president, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada. A federal grand jury indicted him following an investigation triggered by Google LLC, YouTube’s parent company, which alerted federal authorities in October.
Court records show investigators tied a YouTube channel using the name “VEGAS DEW” to Utlaut through digital records, internet-service-provider data, and phone information. Prosecutors said the account’s online activity dated back to June, featuring threats against a woman before shifting focus toward political figures and crowds.
“That orange pumpkin head would be ripe for popping with my 300 PRC that I just dialed in last weekend!” Utlaut allegedly wrote in a YouTube comment in September, as detailed in the federal complaint.
In another online message from the same month, prosecutors said Utlaut claimed he had spent months stockpiling weapons to target anyone associated with the political movement. “I’m gonna kill every f—in Red Hat, every Maga a—hole, even Trump himself and anybody I can get ahold of,” he allegedly wrote.
Google’s threat operations team flagged the posts to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center, determining the messages indicated an emergency involving imminent death or serious bodily injury.
“F— the secret service and f— the FBI,” Utlaut allegedly wrote in an October YouTube comment. “Somebody needs to kill that piece of s— Trump. It might be me. if you got a problem with it. Come, find me, motherf—ers, I’ve got plenty of ammo to go around.”
Local authorities initially arrested Utlaut on a Nevada state charge alleging he made a threat or communicated false information regarding an act of terrorism, after Henderson police stopped him for speeding and running a red light. Officers discovered a 10 mm pistol inside his truck during the stop, according to court documents.
Law enforcement subsequently executed a search warrant on Utlaut’s apartment, recovering 15 firearms in total between his residence and vehicle. The seized inventory included semiautomatic pistols, shotguns, bolt-action rifles, and AR-style rifles, several of which appeared to have been purchased recently.
“Mr. Utlaut allegedly threatened the life of President Trump, promoted a mass shooting, and expressed a willingness to carry out horrific acts of violence,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto said in a statement.
Utlaut’s arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 18.
