A man from New Hampshire, Tyler Anderson, who was charged with threatening presidential candidates, has been found dead while the jury was deciding his case, according to court filings on Thursday.
The jury started deliberating on Tuesday after the trial began on Monday. Anderson’s lawyer has not commented yet. The court documents stated, “the government has learned that the defendant is deceased,” and prosecutors have moved to dismiss the charges.
Anderson was indicted in December for sending threats through interstate commerce, with each charge carrying up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The U.S. Attorney’s office did not reveal the names of the threatened candidates. When Anderson was arrested, a spokesperson for Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy mentioned that the threats were directed at his campaign.
Anderson was arrested on December 9 and released on December 14 under conditions that he avoid contact with any presidential candidates and their campaigns. He was also required to continue his mental health treatment and take prescribed medications.
According to court documents, Anderson received a text from a candidate’s campaign about a breakfast event in Portsmouth and responded with two threatening messages: one about shooting the candidate and another about killing everyone at the event and desecrating their bodies.
Another court document included a screenshot of texts from December 6 threatening a mass shooting in response to an invitation to a candidate’s event. These threats seemed to reference Republican Chris Christie’s “Tell it Like It Is Town Halls.” The Christie campaign thanked law enforcement for handling the threats.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated that they do not name victims to respect their privacy and adhere to the Crime Victims Rights Act.
Anderson had admitted to the FBI that he sent similar threatening texts to multiple other campaigns. The charges included threats sent to two different candidates before the Ramaswamy messages, on November 22 and December 6.