As Democratic nominee Joe Biden inches closer to 270 electoral votes after taking the lead in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada to secure the presidency, a Los Angeles man has been taken into custody after threatening a mass shooting if the former Vice President wins the presidential election, according to the FBI.
The man, who has not yet been identified, was tracked down hours after he unleashed his threat in a video shared on Instagram, according to law enforcement sources.
'I'm Going to Take Out All the Democrats'
"At this point, like, if Biden gets in, I'm just gonna do like a school shooter, just take out all these Democrats and a few pedophiles on the way out,'' the man said in the clip, which has since been deleted.
"If I go to hell, I'm taking these motherf–kers with me,'' he added.
"The FBI is aware of the reported online threats and is working with our partners to investigate," Laura Eimiller of the FBI said in a statement. "The subject is currently being evaluated by state officials. The federal government has not made any arrest nor filed charges at this time. There is no known threat to public safety based on this incident.''
Sources familiar with the investigation but not authorized to discuss it said investigators may use a mental health hold to detain the man. The suspect was detained by a team known as CT 6, a counterterrorism unit that chases potential domestic terror threat tips. The unit often discovers people connected to potential threats who need mental health treatment.
The threat comes a day after Philadelphia police arrested two armed men near the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Authorities had received a tip about a potential threat at the convention center, where the presidential election vote count is ongoing.
This is not the first time a Trump supporter has threatened violence on video if Trump loses the presidency to his Democratic rival. A member of "Proud Boys," the all-male far-right group, threatened to incite a civil war if Biden wins the election, as previously reported.
