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A Chicago man has been arrested after allegedly sending chilling threats to assassinate Donald Trump and behead his teenage son in a string of messages to the White House.
Michael Kovco, 29, is accused of threatening to shoot the president with a ‘high caliber sniper rifle’ and track down Barron Trump in order to kill him, according to federal prosecutors.
Authorities said Kovco sent multiple electronic threats through the official White House website in March, targeting Trump, his family and Secret Service agents.
In a newly unsealed criminal complaint, prosecutors said Kovco sent a March 19 message threatening to ‘hunt’ a Secret Service agent and carry out a shooting at their workplace.
‘I’m gonna hunt the secret service agent that comes to my door’s family so he better not tell me any identifying information at all like first or last name or pet name or address or place of work because im going to buy a small concealable firearm and go shoot up his place of work immediately if he tells me anything,’ he wrote, according to the complaint unsealed in US District Court in Chicago.
The message was sent roughly two hours after agents visited Kovco’s Chicago home, prosecutors said.
Kovco had come to agents’ attention days earlier with a March 17 message sent through the same website.
That message was signed: ‘Mr. I’m going to [expletive] kill your child Kovco.’
Michael Kovco, 29, was arrested after allegedly sending a series of violent threats to Donald Trump, his son Barron Trump and Secret Service agents through the White House website
In one email, he allegedly wrote that he would find Barron ‘in NYC or DC or wherever’ and attack him with a serrated bread knife
Kovco allegedly sent five more messages that day, escalating his threats and claiming he would ‘hunt’ federal agents and kill the president.
In one email, he allegedly wrote that he would find Barron ‘in NYC or DC or wherever’ and attack him with a serrated bread knife.
Prosecutors said Kovco also outlined plans for a sniper-style attack on Trump.
Secret Service agents visited Kovco’s Chicago apartment on March 19 but did not find him at home.
Someone at the residence told agents Kovco was not taking his prescribed medication, was unemployed and rarely left the apartment, according to court documents.
Authorities said the messages included his phone number and email address, and that the IP address used to send them matched the home he shares with two other adults.
Prosecutors also allege Kovco sent a separate threat on August 18 through the Central Intelligence Agency’s public website.
Kovco was arrested on April 3 and charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. Prosecutors are seeking to keep him in custody pending trial.
President Donald Trump arrives with first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump at an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024
US Attorney Andrew Boutros said political violence ‘will be dealt with as the serious federal crime that it is.’
Secret Service Special Agent-in-Charge Dai Tran added that the agency ‘aggressively’ pursues threats to ensure the safety of those under its protection.
A detention hearing was scheduled for Friday.
Kovco is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison.
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