Prosecutors say the UNH staffer charged with threatening to “blow [GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s] brains out” also sent violent text messages to two other Republicans in the race. Now, he is facing three federal counts and up to 15 years in prison.
Tyler Anderson, 30, is charged with three counts of transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another for the messages to Ramaswamy and the two others.
Federal agents arrested Anderson on Dec. 9 after he allegedly sent grisly texts to Ramaswamy’s campaign. According to court records, Ramaswamy’s campaign team sent text invitations to a list of potential voters on the Seacoast on Dec. 8, ahead of a “Breakfast with Vivek” event slated for Dec. 11.
Anderson got an invitation and allegedly responded with gruesome and obscene threats, according to investigators.
“‘Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!’ Anderson reportedly replied. He followed up with, ‘I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then f*** their corpses.’”
When he was arrested at his Dover apartment the next day, investigators found threatening texts targeting two other presidential candidates on his cell phone, according to court records.
The charging documents allege Anderson sent a series of threatening text messages to three separate presidential campaigns going back to November. In one, Anderson threatened to “impale” and “disembowel” a candidate. In another, Anderson threatened to blow the head off a different candidate and conduct a “mass shooting.”
Each charge carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Anderson is currently free on personal recognizance bail with the condition that he remains employed and continues receiving mental health care treatment. His roommate is also required to remove his guns from their shared apartment.
A 2018 UNH graduate, Anderson recently started a new job as an administrative assistant at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. UNH administrative assistants typically earn between $35,000 and $45,000 a year.
UNH did not respond to NHJournal’s request for comment on Thursday.
