California man sentenced for threatening to kill President Biden and Vice President Harris

A California man was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for threatening to kill President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, after he was arrested in Iowa while embarking on a cross-country trip.

Kuachua Brillion Xiong, 27, who lived in Sacramento County after working as a grocery clerk in Merced, appeared in Iowa Southern District Court as a judge handed down his sentence. He was indicted in 2022 on charges that he made threats against Biden and Harris as well as former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

He was also charged with attempting to kill or kidnap Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York; then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-California; and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.

The other charges, except for threatening both Biden and Harris, were dismissed as part of a plea agreement reached in January. He was also ordered to pay $100 to a crime victim’s fund, according to court documents.

Xiong was stopped December 2021 in Iowa by law enforcement after he drove aggressively through traffic, according to the complaint. A GPS in Xiong’s car displayed the White House’s address, and the defendant told investigators that he left his home in California to drive across the country.

When questioned, Xiong said he was traveling to D.C. because he disapproved of the “government due to the sex abuse of children,” the complaint said. A search of his car uncovered an “AR-15 style rifle, loaded magazines, boxes of ammunition and several items of body armor and medical kits,” the complaint said.

“Xiong believes that he is the only person remaining who can free the United States of evil and it is necessary for him to kill those in positions of power,” the complaint said.

Xiong also said he “planned on using his grappling hook to climb over the perimeter fencing before gaining access to the White House to kill those on his ‘hit list,’” the complaint said.

Federal defense attorneys suggested Xiong would enter an insanity plea in the case at one point during the legal proceedings. But he was found competent and ordered to stand trial.