Pennsylvania man charged federally in shooting of Democratic office
A Pennsylvania man accused of firing into a suburban Philadelphia Democratic Party office is facing federal charges, prosecutors said.
Anthony Nero, 48, had been charged on state counts, but on Wednesday, he was arrested by federal authorities and is now charged federally with sending threatening communications and cyberstalking, prosecutors said Friday.
No one was hurt in the shooting, which involved three rounds being fired through a window at the Montgomery County Democratic Party headquarters in Norristown, according to officials. The shooting was discovered Jan. 20.
On Jan. 7, Nero allegedly sent a message through the county party's website in which he complained about a "stolen election"; threatened "violence is the only language you bloodsuckers understand"; and included the phrase "Trump you!" according to court documents.
The message was sent one day after a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., in part fueled by lies that the election President Donald Trump lost had been fraudulent or stolen.
Nero on Friday was ordered held until his next hearing Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said in a statement.
An attorney for him was not listed in online federal court records. An attorney reported to have represented him in the state case did not immediately respond to a message left at his office Friday night.
Nero had been charged with state counts that included terrorism and making terroristic threats.
The state counts were withdrawn Wednesday before federal agents took Nero into custody, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The FBI said in an affidavit that Nero admitted to sending the threatening message and firing three shots from a pistol into the building at 12:30 a.m.
Norristown is around 15 miles northeast of downtown Philadelphia.
