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A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, on Tuesday ordered the detention of a 33-year-old man charged with threatening to kill President Donald Trump ally and Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell, in what Justice Department officials described as a win for the Trump administration – and for Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Grenell, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany, was not in court for the arraignment Tuesday afternoon, and was identified in a press release only as a “federal employee.”
The Justice Department identified Grenell to Fox News Digital as the individual in question.
The suspect, Scott Allen Bolger, was charged with transmitting threats in interstate commerce, and with making false statements to federal officers, who later used phone evidence to trace the threats back to him. He was arraigned in federal court in Alexandria.
Justice Department officials told Fox News Digital that the decision to hold an individual in pretrial detention is somewhat rare, and described the win as a victory for the Justice Department.
According to court documents, Bolger used Google Voice to send threatening messages to Grenell, including allegedly threatening to kill him. Google Voice allows users to make calls and send messages to phone numbers that are not tied to their primary devices.
Bolger is also accused of lying to members of a federal task force who went to his residence in McLean to question him, falsely identifying himself as “Brian Black.”
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If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
They also noted that Halligan, who Trump installed as U.S. attorney for EDVA earlier this year, attended the arraignment.
Halligan attended the proceedings, but did not play a formal role, Fox News Digital confirmed.
The Justice Department also shared a victim statement from Grenell with Fox News Digital that was read aloud in court.
“In my current role as a presidential envoy, I have been attacked and harassed by people who don’t know me and who simply want to leave nasty, rude and angry messages because I don’t share their political viewpoint,” Grenell said in the statement.
“But I strongly believe it is their right to be bitter and angry. I understand the passion. And I think the freedom to be rude and angry is a cherished right.”
“But today is much different,” he said. “Today we are dealing with someone who went far beyond sharing his angry opinion. Today we see a man who wants to kill someone because of their political differences.”
“And as we have sadly learned from my friend Charlie Kirk’s death, we must take talk of violence and calls for death seriously. “
“This individual crossed the line from sharing his viewpoint to wanting to shoot someone in the face because he disagrees with them politically. It is very troubling,” he said, adding, “The people doing what he is doing, and there are many, must be given clear instructions from community leaders that their calls for shooting people in the head will have swift and severe consequences. Unstable people are watching what we do today.”
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Notably, the determination to hold Bolger in pretrial detention was made by U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick most recently made headlines for issuing scathing broadsides against DOJ for its handling of grand jury materials in the Comey case, which he said, last month, presented “irregularities” that “may rise to the level of government misconduct.”
The suspect’s arrest comes at a time when threats and intimidation aimed at high-profile figures across all three branches of government have appeared to escalate.
Polls have shown that people believe political violence is on the rise in the wake of Kirk’s assassination, the murder of two Minnesota Democratic lawmakers and violence toward immigration enforcement officials.
Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
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