Trump fan threatens MAGA protesters but escapes

Jeffrey Giglio was angered by the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump in July. So the 57-year-old Californian did what he has done many times before: he sent a series of threatening messages.

“You tried to kill Trump,” Giglio posted on President Joe Biden’s official Facebook page, referring to false conspiracy theories that Biden was involved in the July 13 shooting. “I hope you get to do that one day — you deserve it.”

Giglio then called Colorado Congressman Steven Woodrow, a Democrat who has been critical of Trump, following the shooting. “I hope they make your head spin,” he said in a voicemail. “It turns you into a pink mist.”

More recently, after listening to a broadcast from right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, Giglio called US Senator Cory Booker and threatened the New Jersey Democrat.

Giglio said in the voicemail, “You follow us, idiot, and we need to get rid of you you dirty progressive bastard.” Giglio called Booker, who is black, a “dirty black man” and said, “That’s not a threat, I don’t care about you.”

Giglio is part of a powerful phenomenon: Far-right Trump supporters use threats and intimidation to frighten the former president’s opponents, but avoid using language that suggests they will actually commit violence — which has a high threshold for prosecution.

Giglio’s attack coincides with the biggest surge in political violence in decades, including an assassination attempt on Trump in July and another apparent assassination attempt on him on Sunday. These attacks highlight the risks of today’s inflammatory political climate. According to academic research, while politically motivated threats are more common on the right, they occur across the ideological spectrum.

Trump has fueled the fire in recent weeks, using vitriolic language to denounce people he opposes and casts as obstacles to his re-election, from his Democratic and Republican rivals to lawyers and local election officials. At times, he has framed the campaign as an apocalyptic battle to save America, reminiscent of the inflammatory rhetoric he used before the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Academics and legal experts say such language could amount to threats or incite violence.

In several interviews, Giglio acknowledged that he wanted to scare Trump’s opponents into thinking “maybe there’s some crazy person who might come after us.” But he insisted that his language is protected by the U.S. Constitution’s right to free speech, so he is immune from law enforcement.

He told Askume he planned to add an assault rifle to his weapons collection amid concerns about post-election violence.

Giglio’s story illustrates the challenges facing American law enforcement officials amid a historic rise in threats and harassment faced by public officials. Giglio has been the subject of investigations or inquiries by the FBI, the U.S. Capitol Police, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But he has never been charged.

“I did my best,” Giglio told Askume. He also said he would never hurt anyone. “If I have to go to jail because someone thinks I’m a real threat, then so be it.”

The Trump campaign said it has no relationship with Giglio and that it is inappropriate to associate his hostile message with the former president. Trump campaign spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt said in an interview that Trump is particularly vulnerable because he was injured in an assassination attempt in July. “Of course, he condemns all forms of political violence and hate,” she said.

Trump has accused his Democratic rivals for the White House, Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, of inciting attacks on him, portraying them as a threat to democracy. Trump, however, has even more derogatory words for him. He frequently calls opponents “traitors,” describes his campaign as “vindictive,” calls journalists “the enemy of the people” and says illegal immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”

Vitriolic attacks like Giglio’s are becoming more common. Threats to judges , members of Congress , election officials and other public servants are at or near record levels, according to government data . AskumeIt previously documented how Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election unleashed a flood of threats from his supporters, many of them violent and leading to federal investigations. Dozens of people were arrested, including a dozen accused of threatening election workers.

But the messages Giglio sent were legally vague, making him difficult to prosecute. The constitution’s guarantee of freedom of expression covers all but the most serious threats. Police and security agencies can deter offenders through personal visits and stern warnings. However, they generally cannot lay charges unless there is a clear, direct threat that expresses an intent to cause harm — a line that is open to interpretation.

Jared Carter, a professor at the University of Vermont Law School who specializes in constitutional free speech issues, said: “Nobody — not even prosecutors and judges — knows exactly where the line is if you’re a threat. Man, you can be taken advantage of.” Carter said Giglio and people like him understand the risks of arrest and have become “more sophisticated” in testing the boundaries of free speech.

A spokesperson for the US Justice Department said in a statement that officials across the government have experienced a “dramatic increase in threatening messages” over the past two years. The department declined to comment on Giglio. “Fiery debate is healthy and protected speech, but crossing the line to put people’s lives at risk is unlawful and the Department of Justice will not tolerate this behavior,” the statement said.

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Marshals Service declined to say whether Giglio was an active or potential subject of an investigation. The White House has not commented on Giglio’s violent messages on Biden’s Facebook page but has condemned “political violence, intimidation or threats of any kind.”

Giglio took a dangerous stance after facing personal setbacks and embracing right-wing media provocateurs. He describes his campaign to terrorize these enemies as a “battle for survival between good and evil.” By Giglio’s estimate, he has taken his anger out on dozens of people, from judges to members of Congress to public officials at all levels of government.

He argues that it is his constitutional right to take action against them. But some scholars believe he has crossed a line.

“You will be arrested”

Giglio often adopts the “us vs. them” rhetoric of Trump and the far-right influencers who led the former president’s “Make America Great Again” movement. Those perceived as enemies were labeled elites and traitors.

He enjoys harassing Republican members of Congress who oppose Trump’s agenda.

“Those cowardly Greens, they look better to me than the Democrats,” Giglio said, using a derisive acronym for “Republicans in Name Only.”

Giglio said he was also targeting judges and prosecutors handling civil and criminal cases against Trump in New York. At least one of his threatening voicemails was cited in court as an example of threats to New York state Judge Arthur Engoran, who was challenging Trump in a civil fraud case involving his real estate business.

Giglio admitted to Askume that he made the calls. The voicemails he sent at random were filled with anti-Semitic insults, including at least five calls to execute Angolan. “You should be killed,” he said. “You should be executed.” This was cited as evidence supporting Angolan’s order limiting Trump’s public comments on the case, arguing that the former president’s comments had encouraged threats against court staff.

The voice mail was one of more than two dozen threatening and intimidating messages that Giglio sent to government officials or their spouses, who received the messages, Askume confirmed.

Their target was Fanny Willis, the district attorney of a Georgia county who accused Trump of trying to illegally overturn his loss in the state’s 2020 election. Willis told Askume that the threatening messages sent by Giglio and others were “an attack on the principle that everyone is accountable to the law and has a right to the protection of the law.”

The judge and prosecutors handling Trump’s New York case declined to comment on specific threats.

Last year, federal authorities questioned Giglio about a threatening email he sent to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Lena Khan. Askume has not independently reviewed the email, but the gist of the message became clear during the encounter — which Giglio himself filmed on his cellphone and later posted to Facebook.

Khan’s office declined to comment on the incident, which comes at a time when she faces criticism from some of Trump’s most extremist political and media allies for her agency’s aggressive regulation of Big Tech companies.

Three Homeland Security agents wearing body armor approached Giglio in a Southern California parking lot to discuss the emails. In a video posted by Giglio, a police officer warns her about phrases used in the emails, such as “You will be raped, or you will be killed, or I will hunt down your husband.”

“I didn’t say I was leaving ,” Giglio replied. “I told you someone was going to come after your husband, right?”

When Giglio insisted he had no plans to commit violence, the officer warned him to mind his language. “At some point, the judge says, ‘OK, that’s enough,’” he said, “and then you’re arrested.”

Giglio told police he had been defrauded by the corrupt government, but assured them, “I’ll stop it.”

But Giglio’s intimidation campaign hasn’t stopped. Some legal analysts say that while his message may intimidate government officials who target him, his language makes him difficult to prosecute.

Erika Hashimoto, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center and a former assistant U.S. attorney, said Giglio had created obstacles for prosecutors by presenting the possibility of violence as something he wanted others to do but did not intend to do himself. She told Askume after reviewing a sample of Giglio’s messages: “He said very offensive, horrible and horrific things to people, but he clearly did not cross the line into a chargeable threat.”

Still, Hashimoto and others say Giglio’s informative and caustic nature could eventually prompt prosecutors to charge him.

Peter Simi, a sociology professor at Chapman University who leads a research project documenting arrests related to threats against public officials , said Giglio’s strategy to avoid charges was not entirely safe. Research shows the number of federal prosecutions has reached record highs in the past two years, with 78 indictments filed in 2023 and 72 in August of this year.

Simi said the decision of whom to prosecute depends on “careful but incomplete linguistic analysis.” He said much is up to the discretion of prosecutors. He described the line between threats and protected speech as “a vast gray area.”

In response to a request from Askume, SIMI reviewed the transcript of Giglio’s phone call with Colorado Congressman Woodrow. In one voicemail, Giglio contemplated assassinating a Democratic congressman. Giglio told Askume he was angry because Woodrow reacted to Trump’s assassination attempt with a social media post wishing the former president well and calling him “sympathetic to the devil” – Woodrow Rowe later apologized.

Giglio said in the July 15 voice mail, “I really hope people come and stop you” and “Kill your family, villain.” He added, “You think we’re the bad guys?” “Your time is coming.”

Simi said Giglio had used the word “we” in his message and that the intensity of his words may have identified him as one of those who might commit violence against Woodrow in the future. “It was a very close call and could have been any number of situations,” he said.

“You will be harassed a lot.”

Giglio has reserved some of his harshest language for women, including the wives of public figures who have wronged Trump or his allies.

In October 2023, Giglio spoke out against Congresswoman Dawn Bacon, a Nebraska Republican and the wife of retired Air Force General Don Bacon. Bacon has been criticized by far-right media for not supporting Rep. Jim Jordan, a Trump ally, as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We will accompany you to every appointment,” Giglio said in a voicemail to Bacon’s wife. “You will be abused in ways you can’t even imagine. And again, in non-violent ways.”

Bacon told Askume that US Capitol Police questioned Giglio but decided not to charge him after concluding he had no intention to take action. Still, Bacon said his wife began sleeping with a gun after receiving Giglio’s messages.

Bacon’s wife declined an interview request. A Capitol Police spokesperson declined to comment on any potential investigation into Giglio, but said, “Police will enforce the law whenever anyone crosses the line of free speech, harassment, or intimidation.”

Experts have expressed concern about the potential for violence around the November election by people like Giglio who carry weapons and taunt officers. “When will they feel they have nothing to lose,” said Billy Williams, who coordinated responses to right-wing and left-wing violence while serving as a federal prosecutor in Oregon from 2015 to 2021. “When will they go out and kill people in a blaze of glory?”

Williams also highlighted the threat of election-related violence on the left, a point echoed by academic Simi. Simi reviewed 500 cases prosecuted for threats between 2013 and 2022 and found that about 45% had a clear political ideology, the majority of which were right-wing. But for threats linked to Trump specifically, the difference was less clear, with pro-Trump threats slightly higher than anti-Trump threats.

Trump’s critics often portray him as a dangerous and divisive threat to American democracy, while Republicans say the former president’s opponents use his rhetoric to incite violence. For example, the Trump campaign noted that just before he was targeted in the July shooting, Biden said in a private call with donors that “it’s time to hold Trump accountable.” Biden has been vocal about focusing on Trump’s record, later calling the term “a mistake.”

But since coming to power in 2016, Trump has been particularly willing to use language that incites violence and threats. He praised the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, called for political opponents to be jailed, threatened the use of force against social justice protesters and said that “both sides are very fine people” after a deadly 2017 rally by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Political violence occurs across the ideological spectrum, but the most severe cases — fatal shootings and assaults — are more likely to be associated with right-wing ideology, according to a Askume review of more than 230 incidents of political violence since the 2021 Capitol riots. During this period, 22 people were killed and the political views of the perpetrators could be identified, of whom 15 were right-wing. In contrast, leftists are more likely to be responsible for incidents of political violence that involve property destruction, such as incidents involving anarchists during social justice protests.

The road to radicalism

Giglio grew up in a Democratic family in Orange County, a historically conservative bastion of California. After dropping out of high school, he said, he sought business opportunities and earned a living by buying and selling second-hand computer equipment.

Giglio never married but had a brief relationship with a woman with whom he had a son. He said a custody battle over his son, who was young at the time, exacerbated his struggles with anger and depression.

In 2015, he started a youth hockey program. The following year, he suffered a stroke that temporarily paralyzed his right arm and leg. Giglio said that in late 2017, the IRS ruled that he owed more than $100,000 in business taxes but was unable to pay. The IRS said it could not comment on individual tax matters.

Giglio said he left the company after a dispute with his parents over the direction of the lacrosse program and is now unemployed and dependent on federal disability benefits because of the effects of the stroke.

Giglio said he never cared much about politics. But he realized something when he watched Congress try to impeach Trump in 2019. He is accused of abusing his power to pressure Ukraine and help him get re-elected.

Giglio said he always thought CNN and MSNBC were “real news.” But when he watched pro-Trump hearing coverage on Fox News, he began to question the legitimacy of impeachment and thought “someone was lying to me.”

The 2020 pandemic further exacerbated Giglio’s anxiety. He said images of Black Lives Matter anti-racism protests and the resulting looting and riots on television news stories worried him. He bought into claims by Trump and right-wing media personalities that socialists and anarchists were promoting chaos. He became a frequent guest of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who promoted conspiracy theories. Carlson “became mainstream media to me,” he said. “There’s no one better than Tucker.”

Giglio went out on the street, curious to see what was happening. They slept in motels or cars and went to social justice protests in Portland, where looting and vandalism drew national attention. After Trump lost in November, Giglio attended a MAGA rally in Washington and insisted the vote was rigged.

After Biden was sworn in, Giglio became convinced that the left was colluding with corporate and media elites to create an authoritarian state “driven by money, power, and greed.” He has expanded his media outreach beyond Carlson to also include far-right podcaster Dan Bongino and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Carlson and Jones did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Bongino did not respond to a Askume request for comment, but he called the reporter on his show a “liar lying” and told her to “go away.” Bongino also said he has repeatedly condemned political violence on the show and said “it is an unacceptable red line that we must not cross.”

By 2021, Giglio began calling congressional offices. He said he initially “taunted” the businessman who answered the phone. He soon realized the “shock calls” were garnering more attention. He wanted to hold politicians accountable for the systemic destruction of the country and send them a message: “Do you think you’re untouchable?”

Last month, exhausted from traveling across the country, Giglio moved into a camper trailer near Vero Beach, Florida.

On August 27, he said he watched InfoWars, an online conspiracy show hosted by Jones. The segment played a clip from a CNN interview in which Democratic Senator Booker speculated about whether Trump’s defeat in the 2024 presidential election would “end” his influence over the Republican Party.

Angered, Giglio called Booker’s office and left a voicemail. He warned the New Jersey senator, “You should not lie and say Trump did such and such.” Booker’s office declined to comment.

Giglio said he is now prepared for the chaos following the November election and is ready to defend himself. He sharpened his existing weapons — a rifle and two pistols — and bought a “big knife.” He also plans to buy an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle. He believes that no matter who wins the election, the United States is headed for a deadly confrontation between the left and the right.

“I want to be proven wrong. I’m worried about all the innocent people,” he said.