Threat Against Joe Biden

Background

At the time, Joe Biden was listed as sitting president. The record is categorized as alleged or disputed with a medium confidence level.

Event details

The reported method was threatened shooting. Suspect killed during FBI arrest operation before Biden visit.

Aftermath

Robertson, a Utah man with a large weapons stockpile, was killed by FBI agents during an early-morning arrest operation on August 8, 2023—the day before Biden was scheduled to visit the Provo area. Agents reported that Robertson pointed a firearm at officers when they arrived, and he was shot and killed at the scene. He had posted dozens of explicit online threats against Biden, Kamala Harris, and law enforcement personnel over a period of months. Because Robertson died during the arrest operation, no charges were brought and no trial was held; the FBI's use of force was reviewed and deemed justified. Biden's visit to Utah proceeded as planned; the episode generated significant public debate about online political extremism and where the line falls between protected speech and credible, prosecutable threats.

Historical significance

The Robertson case is one of the rare instances in the recent record where an FBI pre-emptive arrest operation connected to a presidential threat resulted in the death of the suspect, raising sensitive and enduring questions about the standards applied in such operations. The breadth of Robertson's public online threats—dozens of explicit statements against Biden, Harris, and law enforcement over months—made the case an important reference point in policy debates about online threat monitoring, the legal threshold for pre-emptive intervention, and the balance between First Amendment protections and physical safety. The case also illustrated how social media has created a new category of threat: the determined, vocal, online-declared would-be assassin who broadcasts intent at length before any physical action.

Sources

• Craig Robertson — Wikipedia contributors
• List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots — Wikipedia contributors