Federal agents say a stream of online threats has landed a Knoxville man in federal court.
Garry Lee Williams, 44, was arrested this week after prosecutors said he repeatedly posted videos and messages threatening to kill President Donald J. Trump and several local public-safety leaders. Authorities say some of the material showed up on social platforms, including TikTok. Williams was taken into custody on Thursday and made his first federal court appearance in Knoxville on Friday. He is scheduled to return for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 25.
Federal charges and court dates
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Williams was arrested July 16 by FBI agents on a complaint alleging the interstate transmission of threats to kill public officials, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c). The release says he made an initial appearance Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Debra C. Poplin and that a preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 25 at 1:30 p.m. Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Lewen Jr. will represent the government in the case.
What the affidavit alleges
Local reporting says the supporting affidavit alleges Williams made repeated posts and videos, including on TikTok, that named President Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel, Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler and Knoxville Police Chief Paul Noel as targets, according to WVLT. WVLT reports Williams was arrested in Knoxville on Thursday and appeared in federal court on Friday.
Legal context
The complaint cites 18 U.S.C. § 875, which makes it a federal crime to transmit in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to kidnap or injure another person. That subsection carries a potential penalty of up to five years in prison under the U.S. Code. The U.S. Attorney's Office also reminded the public that the allegations are charges and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty, according to the department's release.
A pattern federal prosecutors have pursued
Federal prosecutors have used the interstate communications statute in multiple recent cases where alleged threats were posted online or left in recorded messages. Hoodline previously covered a similar May case in which agents arrested a man over voicemails authorities called "chilling" in its report on chilling kill-Trump voicemails.
