Prosecutors say a Pennsylvania man accused of shooting in a Democratic Party suburban office in Philadelphia.
Anthony Nero, 48, has been charged with state charges, but was arrested by federal authorities on Wednesday and is now being charged federally with sending threatening communications and cyber stalking, prosecutors said Friday.
No one was injured in the shooting, according to three officials shot through a window in the Democratic Party’s headquarters in Montgomery County, Norristown. The shooting was discovered on January 20.
On January 7, Nero allegedly sent a message through the province’s website complaining of a ‘stolen election’; threatens “violence is the only language your leeches understand”; and has the phrase “Trump you!” included according to court documents.
The message was sent one day after a pro-Trump gang attacked the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, fueled in part by lies that the election that President Donald Trump lost was fraudulent or stolen.
Nero was ordered to be held until his next trial Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said in a statement.
An attorney for him is not listed in online federal court records. An attorney who allegedly represented him in the state case did not immediately respond to a message left at his office Friday night.
Nero has been charged with statements that include terrorism and terrorist threats.
The statements were withdrawn on Wednesday before federal agents arrested Nero, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The FBI said in an affidavit that Nero admitted sending the threatening message and fired three shots from a gun into the building at 12:30 p.m.
Norristown is about 15 miles northeast of downtown Philadelphia.
