Manhunt intensifies for fugitive who authorities say threatened Trump

At least 100 state and federal law enforcement officers are scouring an Ohio city, searching for a fugitive who has eluded them across multiple states for months after threatening to “put a bullet” in President Donald Trump’s head, the authorities said.

The search became increasingly intense and focused on Sunday, after the authorities found a truck that they believe the fugitive, Shawn Richard Christy, 26, of McAdoo, Pennsylvania, had stolen. It was found in Mansfield, Ohio, a city of about 46,000, Robert Clark, a supervisory deputy U.S. marshal and one of the lead investigators, said in an interview Tuesday.

On June 19, a federal warrant was issued for Christy’s arrest after he wrote a post on Facebook that threatened John Morganelli, the district attorney of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and Trump.

“Keep it up Morganelli, I promise I’ll put a bullet in your head as soon as I put one in the head of President Donald J. Trump,” he wrote, according to authorities.

But Christy, a self-described survivalist, was already a wanted man. There were already state warrants for his arrest, after he failed to appear in court for an aggravated-assault trial, Clark said. That prompted a warrant charging him with violating probation and the involvement of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The FBI and Secret Service became involved after the post about the president, authorities said, adding that Christy had also threatened to use “full lethal force on any law enforcement officer that tries to detain me.”

But tracking him has proved difficult, Clark said.

Christy, a “bushcrafter,” or someone skilled in wilderness survival, has evaded authorities by stealing supplies and living in wooded areas, Clark said. He has also traveled by stealing at least six vehicles and driving until he runs out of gas or until a vehicle gives out, he said.

He’s traveled as far north as Canada and has bounced across several states, including Kentucky, Maryland, New York and West Virginia, Clark said. He added that they even searched the wooded area near his backyard in Pennsylvania.

He said Christy had also stolen four firearms: three handguns and ammunition from his uncle’s home, and a shotgun and shells from a trip he made into Hazle Township, Pennsylvania.

“With the threats and the theft of firearms, there’s certainly potential for a confrontational conclusion, which is what we do not want,” Clark said. “We’re just hoping that this investigation can come to a safe conclusion.”

Recently, Christy popped back on social media, and he posted on Facebook that he had injured his knee. He also wrote: “Stay safe, I have a mission to complete.”

“It’s layer after layer of places we’ve been, areas we’ve searched,” Clark said. “We just don’t know what his endgame or intentions are.”

Authorities have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Christy’s arrest.

His father, Craig Christy, said he believed his son wrote the post about Trump during a period of frustration with the legal system. He said his son’s actions in evading the authorities stemmed from a confrontation he had in March 2017 with a former public official in McAdoo, which his son wanted to bring attention to.

“He was so frustrated and so scared and so angry and he was just at a point where he felt like he was trapped,” Craig Christy said. “In those instances, sometimes people say things they don’t really mean.”

In 2012, the father and son pleaded guilty to making harassing phone calls to a lawyer for Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential candidate, and both were sentenced to five years’ probation, according to The Associated Press. Christy said his son was sent to a halfway house for six months.

On Tuesday, Craig Christy said that he last saw his son June 30.

“We’re just praying for him to turn himself in,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Manhunt intensifies for fugitive who authorities say threatened Trump

At least 100 state and federal law enforcement officers are scouring an Ohio city, searching for a fugitive who has eluded them across multiple states for months after threatening to “put a bullet” in President Donald Trump’s head, the authorities said.

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