Federal agents moved in on a Wilkinsburg home Friday after court documents alleged that a local man left a series of chilling voicemails urging a member of Congress to kill President Donald Trump and spinning out violent fantasies about the lawmaker’s family. The man named in the filings, Raymond Eugene Chandler III, was arrested at his Wilkinsburg residence and is now charged in federal court. Prosecutors say the complaint was unsealed Friday and describes a string of calls and recorded messages that alarmed the senator’s staff.
According to TribLIVE, the criminal complaint says a voicemail on April 18 went so far as to advocate killing the senator and his daughter, and a later message allegedly urged the lawmaker to "put that firearm to the President’s head" and pull the trigger. As reported by WPXI, FBI Pittsburgh agents and members of the U.S. Secret Service executed the arrest at Chandler’s home on Friday morning.
What the complaint alleges
The unsealed affidavit lays out multiple voicemails that prosecutors say escalated from angry rants about wealth inequality into explicit calls for violence and political assassination. WTAE reported that the recordings include a brief but blunt message quoted in the documents as, "I want you to kill the President." The complaint characterizes the tone of the calls as increasingly menacing over time.
Arrest, charges and next steps
Court papers say Chandler is charged with two federal felonies connected to threatening a federal official and threatening a federal official’s family. Prosecutors have asked a judge to keep him behind bars while the case moves forward. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that as of Friday afternoon, no detention hearing had been scheduled.
Local scene
Neighbors and media crews saw a visible law enforcement presence around the Wilkinsburg residence as agents carried out the arrest. Investigators say they collected recordings and other evidence tied to the alleged threatening calls while on scene. WPXI noted that FBI agents, the Secret Service, and other federal partners coordinated on the operation.
Legal implications and safety measures
The complaint states that, as the investigation unfolded, additional precautions were put in place for certain U.S. officials and their immediate family members. Federal agents also emphasized in the filings that the FBI "will not tolerate threats of violence" as it pursues the case. Those points appear in the unsealed court documents and in local reporting by WTAE.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania and federal investigators have not offered further public comment beyond what is contained in the filings. Any new court dates or procedural developments will be listed in the federal docket. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
