Judge “could not find probable cause” to move forward and release the man who wanted Biden, Harris, and FBI agents dead
The 48-year-old man who was arrested for making threats on X, formerly known as Twitter, against top U.S. officials has been released from jail. According to our previous report, the suspect, identified as Russell Douglas Warren, was arrested and held in jail after several posts on X, where he posted on several occasions that he wanted to see U.S. President Joe Biden, V.P. Harris, and FBI agents dead.
The suspect “wanted to see” dozens of public figures and politicians dead
In addition, the suspect also talked about taking out judges and wanting to bomb the White House, among other things. The person behind the account was easily identified by the authorities, who arrested him and placed him in jail. But now, Warren is a free man since a federal judge who took over the case decided to let the suspect go after dismissing the criminal case against him.
After Russell Warren showed up in court for his first check and after listening to what both the government and his lawyer had to say, Judge Patricia Morris decided to end the case. She explained that there wasn’t enough evidence to continue.
As a result, the Michigan man was allowed to leave and was no longer under the U.S. Marshal Service’s watch because the charges against him were dropped.
Warren “did not say that he was going to do anything to harm either the president or (Harris),” Morris said in an email after the hearing.
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“His message called on someone or others to ‘take’ him or her and he wanted them to be taken to prison where they would be hanged, which would be accomplished by law enforcement and the courts,” the judge explained to the outlet. “He did not threaten to take or kidnap them to any secluded place nor did he threaten to harm them by his own hands,” Morris added.
In a series of tens of posts on X, Warren threatened to kill the U.S. president, vice president, and other top federal government officials resulting in his arrest and charges. As of the writing of this article, the suspect’s account on X is still up and running, and his posts are visible.
Warren’s threats don’t appear to have a political background since it’s clearly seen that he threatened public figures and top officials both from the Biden and Trump administrations. Warren made threats to destroy the Smithsonian museums, Air Force One, Disney theme parks, One World Trade Center, Mount Rushmore, and other locations, but also threatened public figures, including journalists, celebrities, former Cabinet members of the Trump administration, and 2024 presidential candidates, as well as other politicians.
Warren has previous offenses and he has been arrested
The suspect is a known offender, as he was arrested nearly two years ago on charges of assault with a deadly weapon in 2022. The U.S. Secret Service, which takes over this kind of cases, located and identified Warren based on the IP address he used to log in on X. His arrest ultimately took place on January 29.
The charge of threats against the president and other senior government officials can result in a prison sentence of up to five years if convicted. In the case of Warren, however, this won’t apply because of the federal judge’s decision to let him go without further proceedings.
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“These cases involved threats of action to be taken by the defendant himself (not calling on others), or actions to be taken that were described with specificity, or actions were to be taken by the defendant on a specific date,” Morris further explained. “None of these scenarios are presented here.”