KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Federal prosecutors announced charges Thursday against a Wichita man in connection with a Facebook post threatening to kill Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Adam Lee Osborn, 60, is charged with one count of using interstate communications with a threat to injure and one count of influencing, impeding and retaliating against a federal official by threatening.
The charges come the same week as a Minnesota man was tackled after spraying an unknown substance on Omar during a town hall in Minneapolis.
On Jan. 23, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation received a “voluntary emergency disclosure request” from Facebook about a user who posted on the platform, “I’m going to kill Ilhan Omar” in white text on a purple background.
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Facebook’s disclosure included user information that connected the post to Osborn’s account.
The KBI, working with the Wichita Police Department, went to Osborn’s Wichita apartment to talk to him about the posts.
When officers told Osborn they wanted to talk about his Facebook posts, Osborn said he knew they were the ones about Omar and allegedly admitted, “Yeah, I wrote those.”
During a subsequent interview, Osborn said he was blind and didn’t have the means to follow through on his threats to Omar. Osborn also referenced recently elected New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying, “Someone needed to take his sorry ass out too, and they need to.”
Osborn allegedly told investigators that he hoped his posts “maybe provoke someone to handle business.” When officers asked him what “handle business” meant, he told them to “take ‘em out.” When officers asked him what “take ‘em out” meant, he said, “kill them.”
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Wichita police and KBI agents alerted agents at the FBI Field Office, which worked to present the affidavit in support of criminal charges to federal prosecutors.
Osborn made his initial appearance before a federal judge on Jan. 26 in Wichita. He remains in federal custody pending an arraignment and detention hearing set for Feb. 4.
