California grocery worker arrested in Iowa on charge of threatening Obama, Clinton, Fauci

A former Central Valley grocery store worker has been arrested in Iowa and charged after making threats against former U.S. presidents, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as part of a plan to “combat evil demons in the White House,” court records say.

Kuachua Brillion Xiong, 25, was in custody at the Pottawattamie County Jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa, after his arrest Dec. 21 following a traffic stop in Cass County, Iowa, court records say.

Xiong, who is described in court records as a former grocery store worker from Merced who also lives in Sacramento, had an AR-15 rifle, boxes of ammunition and loaded magazines and body armor in his car when he was stopped. He had the White House in his GPS as his destination.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Tyler Shiels pulled Xiong over for speeding on Interstate 80 and Xiong made a series of statements about his “disapproval for government due to the sex abuse of children,” and said that he had money in his car for “funeral expenses,” court records say.

Xiong was taken into custody and questioned by the U.S. Secret Service in an interview during which he declared “he is the only person remaining who can free the United States of evil and it is necessary for him to kill those in position of power,” court records say.

“It is at this time Xiong began assembling the equipment needed to carry out his plan to kill those in power: an assault rifle, assault rifle magazines, ammunition, body armor, medical supplies, dark clothing, grappling hook, food, and cash,” court records say. “During the course of the interview, Xiong allowed investigators access to his personal cellular phone to corroborate his statements.

“Investigators found detailed notes within Xiong’s calendar and notes applications, including entries for ‘Survive supplies’ on October 19th, ‘Safe life defense order’ (body armor) on October 19th, ‘Safe life fed defense’ on October 22nd, ‘Rifle pickup’ on October 29th, ‘Silencer order’ on November 5th, and ‘Save USA’ on November 20th, 21st, and 27th.”

Court records say Xiong told investigators he left his home in California Dec. 18 “with the intention of driving straight to the White House in Washington, DC, to kill persons in power.”

“While speaking with investigators Xiong stated that he used the mobile application TikTok to download videos to his cellular phone,” court records say, using the videos “to compile a list of evil individuals he intended to kill,” including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Fauci and Zuckerberg.

“Xiong added that he would kill President Joseph Biden unless he promised to comply to Xiong’s demands,” court records say.

“During the interview, Xiong detailed to investigators his plan to gain access to the White House complex,” court records say. “Xiong provided investigators with a drawing of the White House grounds, including a perceived ‘weak spot’ he identified during his pre-attack research, which he intended to exploit during his attack.

“Xiong planned on using his grappling hook to climb over the perimeter fencing before gaining access to the White House to kill those on his ‘hit list.’ When concluding the interview, Xiong stated that nothing would stop him from carrying out his plan of gaining access to the White House and killing the persons on his ‘hit list.’ He added that if released from custody he would immediately resume traveling to the White House in Washington, DC and ‘do whatever it takes’ to complete his plan.

“Xiong stated that he has no intention of returning to California to see his family because he plans on dying while fighting evil demons at the White House.”

Federal prosecutors in Iowa initially filed the criminal complaint against Xiong under seal on Dec. 22, and Xiong made his first court appearance Dec. 27 by Zoom, court records say.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen H. Locher ordered the file unsealed Wednesday, writing that the government had “not satisfied its burden of proving that the restriction of the right of public access is necessitated by a compelling government interest.”

Locher ordered Xiong to remain in custody pending a detention hearing and preliminary hearing on Thursday, court filings say.

This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 12:39 PM with the headline "California grocery worker arrested in Iowa on charge of threatening Obama, Clinton, Fauci."