A man with a reported history of mental illness was arrested on Thursday after declaring himself the “acting president” of the United States and threatening to shoot Ted Cruz.
In a criminal complaint, an FBI agent alleged that Eric Kikkert of King County, Washington left threatening voicemail messages with the office of the Texas Republican senator, warning Mr Cruz directly that he would shoot him unless the senator spoke to him on the phone or acceded to Mr Kikkert’s demand to advocate for an unspecified “vaccine”.
According to the affidavit, the voicemails accompanied at least one email Mr Kikkert sent that was forwarded to Capitol Police in which the Washington state man alleged that unspecified persons, apparently members of Congress or the federal government, were “using due process to evade justice”. He went on to threaten to form a militia and “enforce the constitution myself”, to an unknown meaning.
In one call, Mr Kikkert warned that Mr Cruz would “either answer my questions by giving me a call, or at the end of my rifle”.
The Daily Beast first reported that Mr Kikkert was arrested last week. At some point in the last month, he traveled to Washington DC, where Secret Service agents confronted him at a hotel, according to the court filing.
The man’s mother told FBI agents, according to the affidavit, that her son “suffers from mental illness, but ... refuses to take medication or continue mental health treatment”.
“She said that he had never witnessed [her son] be violent, and that he does not have an interest in weapons,” the affidavit continued.
Mr Kikkert faces a charge of sending threatening interstate communications. If convicted, he could face a fine and/or imprisonment for a term of up to five years.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Cruz’s office for comment.
