Law enforcement, including FBI agents, are seen Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, outside the residence of a suspect who was shot and killed during an attempted arrest early that morning. According to federal court documents, suspect Craig Robertson posted multiple threats on Facebook against the life of President Joe Biden in the days leading up to Biden's arrival in the state. (Photo: Amanda Gilbert, KUTV)
PROVO, Utah (KUTV) — Federal agents on Wednesday fatally shot a suspect who made multiple threats on Facebook against President Joe Biden's life, as well as the lives of at least two others others listed in federal court documents.
The shooting happened as agents while trying to serve arrest and search warrants at a Provo residence early in the day, according to the FBI.
An FBI spokesperson stated the incident happened at approximately 6:15 a.m. on Aug. 9, when special agents attempted to take Craig Deleeuw Robertson into custody near 400 North and 1200 West.
According to a redacted felony complaint filed in U.S. District Court, an arrest warrant was issued for Robertson after he threatened to kill an undisclosed number of FBI agents, made online remarks about his plans to kill the New York County District Attorney, and posted he would be using his sniper rifle when the president arrived in Utah.
In fact, Robertson made multiple threatening posts about the president on his public Facebook profile - still active as of 1 p.m. Wednesday, less than four hours before Air Force One was scheduled to land at an Air National Guard base in Salt Lake City.
Nearly all his recent posts were dedicated to his thoughts on Biden, save for a select few that attacked Hunter Biden, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, actor Whoopi Goldberg, and Democrats in general.
In his most recent post, Robertson stated he had a dream about seeing "Joe Biden's body in a dark corner of DC parking garage with his head severed and lying in a huge puddle of blood."
He adds: "Hoorah!!!"
He referenced shooting the president multiple times, including a Facebook post he crafted Tuesday and then reshared shortly afterward - something he did for many of his more egregious threatening posts.
"Perhaps Utah will become famous this week as the place a sniper took out Biden the Marxist," he wrote just after 6:30 p.m. Aug. 8., which he then reshared 10 minutes later.
It followed a post on Monday, also referencing being a sniper:
It wasn't clear how long the FBI had been monitoring his activity, but he'd apparently been contacted before.
On July 27, Robertson posted a message to his Facebook feed, directed at the FBI:
The circumstances leading up to the shooting on Wednesday were not immediately disclosed.
"The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously," according to the spokesperson. "In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under review by the FBI’s Inspection Division. As this is an ongoing matter, we have no further details to provide."
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