A North Carolina man has been charged for threatening to kill President Joe Biden, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed in court Thursday.
David Kyle Reeves, 27, of Gastonia, North Carolina, was arrested February 5 for knowingly and willfully making threats to take the life of and inflict bodily harm upon the President, according to newly unsealed court documents.
Prosecutors allege that between January 28 and February 1, Reeves contacted the White House switchboard multiple times by phone and made threats against President Biden and others.
In one call, Reeves is accused of saying he was going to kill everyone and “chop your heads off,” according to the criminal complaint. The complaint also alleges a Secret Service agent contacted Reeves to discuss the threats.
Reeves called the agent several times throughout the day making threats against the President, the agent and others.
Reeves told the Secret Service agent “that he had free speech and did nothing wrong,” according to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint. Reeves appeared before a North Carolina federal court judge Thursday and was ordered to remain in custody.”
“Mr Reeves has pleaded not guilty and receiving appropriate mental health evaluations,” his attorney, Kevin Tate, senior litigation counsel for the office of the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of North Carolina, said in an email to CNN.
Reeves is being held in the Mecklenburg County jail, according to jail records.
The charge of making a threat against the president of the United States carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.