GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Lilburn man is facing federal charges after the FBI says he sent a series of violent threats to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and her husband, Abraham Williams.
Aliakbar Mohammad Amin, 24, is charged with transmitting interstate threats, according to a criminal complaint filed April 10.
The FBI says Amin sent Gabbard’s husband a photo of a handgun pointed at a computer screen showing the couple, along with the message: “The home you two own in Texas is a legitimate target and will be hit at a time and place of our choosing.”
Other messages allegedly included: “You and your family are going to die soon,” and “I will personally do the job if necessary.”
Another stated, “Death to America means death to America literally, Tulsi is living on borrowed time.”
Agents say Amin also sent a CGI image of the U.S. Capitol with the words: “Mass death and Mass destruction coming soon” and a video titled “Really realistic plane crash sound effect.”
On April 8, agents interviewed Amin at his home.
According to the complaint, he admitted to sending the threats to Gabbard and Williams, saying it was because he was frustrated with U.S. foreign policy in Gaza.
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He also told investigators, “the photos including the guns were his hand, on his gun, in his home,” and that “he understood that DNI Gabbard and Williams would interpret these messages to be death threats.”
Jeffrey Ertel, a former federal public defender and current partner at Mendelsohn Ertel Law Group, said cases like these can be challenging for a defense attorney.
“They are very difficult to defend because you don’t really have anybody to cross-examine,” said Ertel. “They’re putting up the text messages … and they speak for themselves.”
He said the alleged confession makes the case easier to prosecute.
“The confession is obviously critical,” he said. “The gun gives definitely some evidence that he had the ability to carry them out.”
Amin could face years in federal prison if convicted.
“The maximum sentence in this case is five years,” Ertel said. “If he’s got no criminal history, then the guidelines would be somewhere around three years for this.”
FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown said: “The FBI sees all threatening communications as a serious federal offense. We will employ every investigative tool and resource available to identify those responsible and ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Let this arrest serve as a clear warning: if you engage in this kind of criminal behavior, you will be caught and you will go to prison.”
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