NEWS

Police arrest man at Bucks County camp for death threats against Biden, Wolf and others

Chris Ullery
Bucks County Courier Times

Pennsylvania State Police arrested a man Friday for terroristic threats against President-elect Joe Biden and other Democratic officials.

Kris John Kinsey, 61, was arrested at his campsite in a wooded area near the 700 Block of Sunday Road after an arrest warrant was issued for Kinsey by police in Ohio, according to a state police news release.

The Elyria Police Department was investigating threats of "death and violence" allegedly shared by Kinsey on Facebook.

Police car emergency lights

Kinsey is said to have also threatened Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Gov. Tom Wolf and Sen. Nancy Pelosi.

In addition to terroristic threat charges, the state police said Kinsey was found to be in possession of a semiautomatic handgun, which he is prohibited from owning, and marijuana.

Court documents filed in Judge Gary Gambardella's court Monday list Kinsey as facing one felony charge for the firearm and misdemeanor drug-related charges and terroristic threats.

Kinsey's bail was set at $4.6 million, but he appears to currently remain at the Bucks County Correctional Facility as of Monday evening, documents show.

A hearing is scheduled at 11 a.m. in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas on Feb. 10.

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The arrest comes at the U.S. Capitol is prepared for Wednesday's inauguration.

The Capitol complex was temporarily locked down Monday during a rehearsal for Biden's inauguration after a fire in a homeless encampment roughly a mile away sent a plume of smoke into the air and caused security concerns in an already jittery city.

The false alarm briefly interrupted the rehearsal for Wednesday's inauguration ceremony, a quadrennial exercise in which stand-ins take the roles of Biden and other VIPs and the U.S. Marine Corps Band goes through its paces, including practicing “The Star-Spangled Banner” for Wednesday’s performance by Lady Gaga. Rehearsal resumed not long afterward, accompanied by frequent passes by a helicopter patrolling the skies over the Capitol.

The fast decision to lock down underscores the fear that has gripped Washington since the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters and prompted extraordinary measures ahead of the inauguration. Armed protests planned for this past weekend around the country were mostly a bust, but anxiety is still skyrocketing.

U.S. Secret Service tightened security in and around the Capitol a week early in preparation, and the city center is essentially on lockdown with streets blocked, high fencing installed and tens of thousands of National Guard and other law enforcement officers stationed around the area.

But U.S. defense officials, worried about a potential insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing the event, pushed the FBI to vet all of the 25,000 National Guard troops coming into the area.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.