LANSING, Mich. — A Hawaii man has been charged with threatening to kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, federal prosecutors announced.
U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said Ronald Saville, 48, of Honolulu, was charged in a criminal complaint filed June 1 with transmitting interstate communications containing threats.
According to court records, Saville emailed the Michigan State Police on May 9, identifying himself and referencing the Michigan Capitol. In the email, he allegedly wrote that he was “going to walk in with a gun at A.R. 15 and open fire and kill as many people as possible. I mean what I say I’m not a joke.”
Prosecutors said Saville later sent a second email to Whitmer, stating, “just to let you know on Tuesday second, Lancy, Michigan is never gonna be the same again going to walk into the state capital shoot it up and kill as many people as possible than that I’m coming for you[.]”
According to the complaint, Saville called the FBI on May 12 and told an agent he wanted to kill Whitmer because of her political affiliation. Authorities said he also admitted conducting online research to plan a trip to Michigan and indicated he still intended to carry out the threat.
Federal officials said Saville was located and arrested in Abilene, Texas, on June 1.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Saville has two previous federal convictions in Hawaii for making threats, one involving former President George W. Bush in 2006 and another involving former U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway in 2012.
If convicted, Saville faces up to five years in prison on each count, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release.
The FBI is investigating the case.
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