A Federal Aviation Administration employee was arrested Monday on charges he threatened to kill President Trump, with prosecutors alleging he used a taxpayer-funded government computer to research assassination methods while on the federal payroll.
Dean DelleChiaie, 35, of Nashua, New Hampshire, appeared in federal court Tuesday. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
According to the Department of Justice, DelleChiaie used his FAA-issued work computer to search for how to bring a firearm into a federal facility. He also searched for documented past assassination attempts against Trump, looked up what percentage of Americans want the president dead, and typed the specific phrase “I am going to kill Donald John Trump” directly into his government machine, court documents show.
The searches caught the attention of federal investigators and prompted the Secret Service to interview DelleChiaie in early February. He admitted to conducting all of the searches on his government-owned computer and confirmed he owned three firearms, prosecutors said. Agents recorded the interview and his admissions but did not immediately arrest him.
Two months later, the alleged threats moved from search queries to direct communication with the White House. In April, DelleChiaie allegedly sent an email from his personal account to the White House’s publicly available contact address. The message read: “I, Dean DelleChiaie, am going neutralize/kill you — Donald John Trump — because you decided to kill kids — and say that it was War — when in reality — it is terrorism. God knows your actions and where you belong.”
Federal law prohibits transmitting threats across state lines. Sending the email from New Hampshire to Washington, D.C. met that threshold, according to prosecutors.
The arrest draws attention to the use of government property for what prosecutors describe as threatening conduct. Federal employees operate under strict rules governing the use of government-issued equipment, and the conduct alleged here — conducting assassination research on government hardware, during government work hours — could carry additional consequences beyond the criminal case.
DelleChiaie remained in custody pending further court proceedings. The case is being handled by federal prosecutors in New Hampshire. No trial date has been set, and it was not immediately known whether he has secured legal representation.
