"John Jacobs Ahrens, 58, pleaded guilty to one count of threat against the President of the United States and two counts of interstate communication with a threat to injure. He will be sentenced on Dec. 22, 2021," the Justice Department said in a press release on Thursday.
In his messages, Ahrens demanded money and if it was not sent, he wrote that he would kill the President, members of Congress and their families, the release said.
For example, in a May 10, 2021 message Ahrens said: "Please go to my Facebook page and read what I sent to the men of the United States Congress. They have less than 48 hours to hand over my money or their children will start dying all over the country. I’m going to kill their children," the release said.
In another message, Ahrens said: "America is going to get to see a sitting President get his head blown off right in front of them" and "your families will start dying. After that is over, I’m going to come back here one more time and tell you to hand over my money," the release added.
An executive producer from KOTV Channel 6 television contacted the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center to report the threatening emails dated between May and June 2021, according to the release.