Day: April 14, 2025

Shawn Monper, 32, a resident of Butler, Pennsylvania, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with making threats to assault and murder President Donald J. Trump, other U.S. officials, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

“I want to applaud the outstanding and courageous investigative work of the FBI and the Butler Township Police Department, who thankfully identified and apprehended this individual before he could carry out his threats against President Trump’s life and the lives of other innocent Americans,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Rest assured that whenever and wherever threats of assassination or mass violence occur, this Department of Justice will find, arrest, and prosecute the suspect to the fullest extent of the law and seek the maximum appropriate punishment.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti for the Western District of Pennsylvania joined Attorney General Bondi in making today’s announcement.

According to the federal criminal complaint, on April 8, the FBI National Threat Operations Section (NTOS) received an emergency disclosure regarding threats posted to YouTube by user “Mr Satan.” Federal agents determined that the threatening statements occurred between Jan 15 April 5. The subsequent federal investigation affirmed that the internet activity associated with “Mr Satan” corresponded with Monper’s residence.

The investigation further established that Monper sought and obtained a firearms permit shortly following President Trump’s inauguration. In February 2025, Monper commented using his “Mr Satan” account: “I have bought several guns and been stocking up on ammo since Trump got in office.” Further, in March 2025, Monper commented using his account: “Eventually im going to do a mass shooting.” One week later, Monper commented: “I have been buying 1 gun a month since the election, body armor, and ammo.”

The criminal complaint identified the following threatening statements regarding President Trump, other United States officials, and ICE agents:

February 17, 2025: “Nah, we just need to start killing people, Trump, Elon, all the heads of agencies Trump appointed, and anyone who stands in the way. Remember, we are the majority, MAGA is a minority of the country, and by the time its time to make the move, they will be weakened, many will be crushed by these policies, and they will want revenge too. American Revolution 2.0”

March 4, 2025: “im going to assassinate him myself.” This threat was made in a YouTube video titled “Live: Trump’s address to Congress.”

March 18, 2025: “ICE are terrorist people, we need to start killing them.”

April 1, 2025: “If I see an armed ice agent, I will consider it a domestic terrorist, and an active shooter and open fire on them.”

On April 9, the FBI, with the assistance of the Butler Township Police Department, arrested Monper on the federal criminal complaint. On April 10, Monper was ordered detained pending preliminary and detention hearings scheduled for April 14, at 1:00 pm.

The FBI and Butler Township Police Department are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan J. McKenna is prosecuting the case.

The original announcement can be found here.

The post Pennsylvania Man Charged with Making Threats to Murder President Trump, Other U.S. Officials, and ICE Agents appeared first on HSToday.

ROME — Talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program appeared ready Monday to leave the Middle East, as an Italian source said the next round of negotiations would take place in Rome.

Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog separately confirmed he would be taking a trip to Iran later in the week, possibly to discuss ways to improve access for his inspectors to Tehran’s program.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

Read More: Why Trump’s Iran Diplomacy May Work

A source in the Italian government confirmed that the next round would take place in Rome on Saturday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

The person’s comments came as Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani separately told journalists in Osaka, Japan, that the Italian government has given its OK to host the talks.

“We received the request from the interested parties, from Oman, which plays the role of mediator and we gave a positive response,” Tajani said. “We are ready to welcome, as always, meetings that can bring positive results, in this case on the nuclear issue.”

Both Iranian and U.S. officials did not immediately acknowledge the venue of the second round of negotiations. However, it’s likely that Oman, which hosted the first round of talks on Saturday in Muscat, would continue to mediate between the two sides.

“The next round of talks will probably be held somewhere other than Oman,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told journalists on Monday in Tehran. “It’s not an important matter.”

IAEA chief to head to Iran ahead of talks

The talks will follow a visit by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Iran later this week.

The IAEA played a key role in verifying Iran’s compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and has continued to work in the Islamic Republic, even as the country’s theocracy slowly peeled away its access after Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018.

“Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed,” Grossi wrote on X.

Grossi will arrive in Iran on Wednesday night and will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian, the state-run IRNA news agency reported, quoting Kazem Gharibabadi, a deputy foreign minister.

Sanctions relief and enrichment remain top issues

The 2015 nuclear deal saw Iran agree to drastically reduce its stockpile of uranium and only enrich up to 3.67% — enough for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr. Today, Iran enriches up to 60%, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels and has enough stockpile for multiple nuclear bombs, should it choose to build them.

The deal lifted economic sanctions on Iran and unfroze assets around the world. The deal’s collapse refroze those funds and limited Iran’s ability to sell crude oil abroad — though it still sells to China, likely at a sharp discount.

While the U.S. can offer sanctions relief for Iran’s beleaguered economy, it remains unclear just how much Iran will be willing to concede. Judging from negotiations since 2018, Iran will likely ask to keep enriching uranium up to at least 20%. However, neither side has offered any public statements about what it is specifically seeking in the talks.

“There must definitely be guarantees in place regarding the fulfillment of commitments,” Baghaei said Monday. “The issue of guarantees is especially important given the history of broken promises in the past. God willing, the negotiating team will continue its work with all these factors and points in mind.”

He added: “As long as the language of sanctions, pressure, threats, and intimidation continues, direct negotiations will not take place.”

However, Abbas and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff did meet and speak face to face after some two hours of indirect talks mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi.

Speaking to journalists on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said he met with Witkoff and that his envoy had “very good meetings on the Middle East.”

“We’ll be making a decision on Iran very quickly,” Trump said, without elaborating.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers David Biller and Giada Zampano in Rome and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/