On Friday, February 6, a federal grand jury indicted an Ohio resident suspected of making death threats against U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance during his visit to his home state last month.
The 33-year-old, Shannon Matre, is charged with threatening to kill or inflict serious bodily harm on a person who stands in the presidential line of succession, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. Secret Service agents arrested Matre the same day, after which he appeared in court. He will remain in custody until a detention hearing scheduled for February 11.
According to the indictment, Matre said he intended “to find out where he (the vice president) will be and use my M14 automatic rifle to kill him.” If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
“Hostile and violent threats against the vice president or any other public official in our district are unacceptable,” said David M. Tepfer, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, in the department’s statement. “Anyone who threatens such acts will face swift and certain justice.” He also thanked local and regional law-enforcement agencies for working with the Secret Service in the suspect’s arrest.
Attorney General Pam Bondi called the threat against Vance “disgusting.” “You can try to hide behind a screen, but you can’t hide from the Department of Justice,” she stressed.
In addition, the grand jury alleges that between December 31, 2025, and January 21, 2026, Matre received and distributed material depicting the sexual abuse of children. “While arresting this individual on suspicion of making death threats against the vice president of the United States—a grave crime in its own right—federal law-enforcement authorities discovered that he also possessed material depicting the sexual abuse of children,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. If convicted on that charge, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
The arrest came a month after another incident involving the vice president’s security. In January, law-enforcement officials told the Associated Press that a 26-year-old Kentucky resident, William Defour, allegedly tried to break into Vance’s home by smashing a window and damaged a Secret Service vehicle. The vice president’s family was not at home at the time.
Vance himself, who led the U.S. delegation this week at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, thanked people for their support after the incident, while also questioning “the news value of publishing images of our home with broken windows.”