A suburban Chicago man who was arrested after allegedly threatening to kill Democrats during President Joe Biden's inauguration was on the FBI's radar for months before his arrest, according to a criminal complaint.
Louis Capriotti, a 45-year-old from Chicago Heights, appeared in court Thursday on a charge of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. He was ordered held without bond.
The criminal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, alleges that in a Dec. 29 voicemail for a U.S. House member from New Jersey, Capriotti stated that if certain individuals “think that Joe Biden is going to put his hand on the Bible and walk into that [expletive] White House on Jan. 20, they’re sadly [expletive] mistaken.”
“We will surround the [expletive] White House and we will kill any [expletive] Democrat that steps on the [expletive] lawn,” the complaint states.
According to the complaint, Capriotti left several "disturbing, anonymous messages" on the voicemail systems of multiple members of Congress between Oct. 3, 2019 and Jan. 29, 2020 and again from February through December. Authorities also believe he may have left similar messages from a different number between 2017 and 2019.
The alleged "messages, in almost every instance, included profanity, along with derogatory remarks concerning the race, religion, political affiliation, or physical appearance of certain members and others," the complaint states.
Officials said the FBI interviewed Capriotti in February 2020 and he admitted to making calls and leaving voicemails but said he "didn't mean any ill will." They told him to stop making such calls, but Capriotti continued to leave such voicemails in the months following, the complaint alleges.
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In one of the messages left in November, the caller referred to himself as "a nine-year Marine, active duty" and said he has “killed” several “terrorists” in prior wars and that he “will continue to kill them because that’s what I am trained to do.” The complaint alleges he also stated “in the next couple weeks, some big news is about to go down” and that certain individuals “are going to be astonished of what’s going to be revealed."
