66-year-old Winchester man arrested for making online threats to VP Harris and Former President Obama

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) — Yesterday, a Charlottesville federal grand jury indicted a Winchester man for making online threats to kill, injure or kidnap the Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Barrack Obama.

According to court documents, 66-year-old Frank Lucio Carillo of Winchester was charged with 14 counts — five counts of making threats against Harris, five counts of interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure Harris, two counts of making threats against Former President Obama and two counts of interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure Former President Obama.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Carillo used the username of “joemadarats1” under the social media platform GETTR to post thousands of messages. On, July 27, FBI Phoenix received information regarding a threat made against an employee of Maricopa County, Arizona, Recorder’s Office that was made on GETTR by the same user.

FBI searched the user account of “joemadarats1” and discovered approximately 4,359 posts, comments and replies from the user that were targeting multiple public officials, not limited to VP Kamala Harris and Former President Obama.

In Feb. 2024, “joemadarats1” posted on the social media platform that he had his “AR-15 LOCKED AND LOADED,” according to The U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Law enforcement used GETTR subscriber information and other investigative strategies to confirm that the “joemadarats1” user was being occupied by Carillo at his home in Winchester.

On Aug. 2, FBI Richmond issued a search warrant Carillo’s home and seized a 9mm gun, an AR-15 rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

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