A Pennsylvania man accused of shooting a suburban Philadelphia Democratic Party office is facing federal charges, prosecutors said.
Anthony Nero, 48, had been charged with state crimes, but on Wednesday, he was arrested by federal authorities and is now federally accused of sending threatening communications and cyber persecution, prosecutors said on Friday.
No one was hurt in the shooting, which involved three shots fired from a window at Montgomery County Democratic Party headquarters in Norristown, officials said. The shooting was discovered on January 20.
On January 7, Nero reportedly sent a message through the county party website that he complained about a “stolen election”; threat of “violence is the only language your bloodsuckers understand”; and included the phrase “Trump you!” according to court documents.
The message was sent a day after a pro-Trump crowd attacked the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, partly fueled by lies that the election that President Donald Trump lost was either fraudulent or stolen.
On Friday, Nero was detained until his next hearing on Tuesday, the Eastern Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
His lawyer was not listed in the federal court’s online records. A lawyer who reported representing him in the state case did not immediately respond to a message left in his office on Friday night.
Nero was accused of state charges that included terrorism and terrorist threats.
State counts were lifted on Wednesday before federal agents took Nero into custody, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The FBI said in a sworn statement that Nero admitted that he had sent the threatening message and fired three shots from a pistol into the building at 12:30.
Norristown is about 15 miles northeast of downtown Philadelphia.
