Man threatened to ‘execute and sexually assault’ officials, feds say. He’s sentenced
A 38-year-old Arizona man accused of making “vile threats to execute and sexually assault” FBI agents and other officials has been sentenced to 15 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release, prosecutors said.
Michael Lee Tomasi of Rio Verde also must give up an assault rifle, handgun, shotgun, gun magazines and thousands of rounds of ammunition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona wrote in a news release.
Tomasi was sentenced Nov. 25 in federal court.
The case drew attention from high-profile law enforcement officials, including the U.S. attorney general and FBI director, who spoke out after the sentencing.
Tomasi’s attorneys did not immediately respond to McClatchy New’s request for comment.
The 38-year-old is accused of making the threats between May 2021 and November 2023 while living in Colorado and Arizona.
Many of the threats were made on the site patriots.win, prosecutors said.
In one instance, Tomasi wrote that the “FBI has no legal ability to enforce anything. Shoot on site,” the sentencing memo said.
He’s accused of writing in another post that he wanted to rape a specific member of Congress “not because of any sexual gratification I get out of it, but because I want to put her through the horror of a violent rape.”
He also threatened a Denver prosecutor and the elected county attorney, said a specific member of Congress should be executed and threatened the judge in Connecticut who was handling legal action involving Alex Jones of Infowars, prosecutors said.
When he moved to Arizona in 2022, he “began explicitly threatening to kill FBI agents and FBI employees,” prosecutors said.
In one post, which was made in response to an article about an FBI raid, he wrote that FBI officials “deserve nothing but instant death,” court documents said.
In another post, he’s accused of writing, “shoot the FBI first” and “ask questions later.”
The posts frequently used slurs and curse words, according to court documents.
When federal agents searched Tomasi’s home and car in 2023, they found numerous firearms, ammunition and a ballistics vest, prosecutors said.
In their own memo, Tomasi’s attorneys said violent rhetoric is “regrettably commonplace” on the website where Tomasi is accused of making a number of statements.
The alleged threats were made exclusively online and Tomasi never tried to directly threaten a person or agency, the attorneys said.
“Michael takes full responsibility for his actions and makes no excuses. Michael now realizes that, despite the hollow nature of his threats, the abhorrent statements he made helped to create a more toxic environment that may spur others on to acts of violence towards law enforcement and government agencies,” the document said.
After the sentencing, FBI Director Christopher Wray said threatening officials won’t be tolerated.
“I take it very personally that anyone would threaten FBI personnel who work tirelessly to protect the American people from a variety of threats and often put themselves in harm’s way while carrying out their duties. We will continue to work with our partners to hold accountable those who threaten violence against law enforcement officers and other public servants,” he said in the U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland added in the release that, “I am grateful to the brave public servants of the FBI for bringing this defendant to justice and for the difficult and dangerous work they do every day to keep the American people safe.”
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 7:17 AM with the headline "Man threatened to ‘execute and sexually assault’ officials, feds say. He’s sentenced."
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