Man charged in Maryland federal court with threatening to kill Dr. Anthony Fauci and his family

A 56-year-old man has been arrested and charged in Maryland federal court with making threats against Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The case was unsealed as a Frederick man was sentenced separately to seven months in federal prison for threatening Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and their supporters when the two were running for president and vice president.

In the Fauci case, federal authorities said in charging documents that Thomas Patrick Connally Jr., who was arrested in West Virginia, repeatedly sent threatening emails to Fauci at his National Institutes of Health account, which is based in Bethesda.

The first, in December 2020, had a subject line reading: “Hope you get a bullet in your compromised satanic skull.”

Other emails told Fauci his “entire family ... are about to be dragged into the street and slaughtered” and made references to Bill Gates and George Soros. Threatening emails were also sent to Dr. Francis Collins, the NIH director.

“Drop the mandatory vaccine talk,” said another email included in the charging documents.

The emails were sent using an encrypted program, but authorities say they determined his connection through linked accounts and IP addresses. While the man was arrested in West Virginia, federal authorities said in charging documents that they don’t know where he lives.

If convicted, Connally faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for threats against a federal official; and a maximum of five years in federal prison for interstate communication containing a threat to harm. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.

Meanwhile, James Dale Reed, a 42-year-old Frederick man, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Hollander to seven months in prison and four additional months on home confinement for leaving a threatening note at the home of a Biden/Harris supporter in October.

“…if you are a Biden/Harris supporter you will be targeted. We have a list of homes and addresses by your election signs. We are the ones with those scary guns. We are the ones your children have nightmares about…” the note read.

Law enforcement obtained an Extreme Risk Protective Order to seize Reed’s firearms based on misdemeanor charges of voter intimidation and threats of mass violence, and a search warrant for the clothing items visible on the video surveillance.

They searched a back room that “resembled a U.S. military outpost bunker,” full of U.S. Army paraphernalia, including many pairs of military-issue uniforms, helmets, plate carriers, and bags/packs and “a voluminous supply of maps, books, and documents related to military strategy and history,” prosecutors said.

Law enforcement seized a Smith & Wesson 9VE handgun; a JC Higgins 20-12 Gauge rifle; a .223 caliber Bushmaster XM15-E25; a Hi Point 995 handgun; and approximately eight ammunition cans with 5.56 and 9mm ammunition and AR-15 carbine magazines. In addition, a military-style “go-bag” was seized along with the jacket Reed wore when he delivered the threatening letter, prosecutors said.