A 38-year-old Blair County man is facing criminal charges after allegedly leaving a threatening voicemail for Governor Josh Shapiro's office, telling staff that his mission was to destroy the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and that residents would get executed. Theodore Knott III identified himself as reactivated army intelligence during the call, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
Troopers say Knott called the main office line for Shapiro's office around 1:48 p.m. on September 3, and staff members discovered and reported the threatening message. As reported by Local 21 News, Knott allegedly said Shapiro wanted to sit there and steal cash from U.S. citizens, and used a racial slur against the governor during the call. State police identified Knott as the caller after an investigation and took him into custody the next day at his home in Roaring Spring Township, roughly 100 miles west of Harrisburg, before transporting him to Dauphin County Central Booking, according to Fox 43.
State police filed charges against Knott on September 4 for terroristic threatening, harassment, and disorderly conduct. He was bailed out after posting 10% of a $25,000 bond, the station's report notes, and is due back in Dauphin County Court for a preliminary hearing at 9:15 a.m. on September 21.
A Statute With Teeth If Operations Are Disrupted
Under Pennsylvania's terroristic threats law, 18 Pa.C.S. § 2706, communicating a threat is generally graded as a first-degree misdemeanor carrying up to five years in prison, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The charge can escalate to a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years if the threat causes building evacuations or disrupts normal operations. Pennsylvania law also allows restitution for emergency police and fire response costs tied to threat investigations, per the same statute. It remains an open question whether prosecutors will seek to elevate the charges against Knott, or whether federal authorities will separately evaluate the voicemail for potential charges under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), which covers threatening communications sent across state lines or through electronic networks and carries up to five years in federal prison.
Part of a Broader Pattern Against State Leaders
Knott's arrest is the latest in a string of threats against Pennsylvania's governor. In July, 65-year-old Delaware County resident Richard Franklin was arrested and charged with terroristic threats after using antisemitic slurs and threatening arson at Shapiro's residence, according to CBS News. Franklin was jailed on $100,000 bail after making verbal threats at a state representative's office. CBS News also notes that in April 2025, an intruder scaled a perimeter fence at the Governor's Mansion in Harrisburg and set a fire that damaged the residence while Shapiro and his family were asleep inside.
A December 2023 case showed a similar pattern in central Pennsylvania: state police arrested 25-year-old Blayk Bridges of Bedford County after intercepting an email with the subject line “I'm going after the Governor of Pennsylvania,” in which he threatened physical violence against Shapiro, according to Patch. Bridges was held in county jail on a $500,000 bond.
State Police Formalized a Threat Unit This Year
The volume of these cases prompted Pennsylvania State Police to formally establish a Political Violence Threat Unit within its Bureau of Criminal Investigation in May, specifically tasked with investigating threats against state elected officials, per the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The unit was created to streamline threat tracking and prevent communication breakdowns between law enforcement and elected leaders. Its creation followed the arrest of 42-year-old Adam Berryhill, who allegedly operated an account called Pennsylvania Militia and published an online hit list targeting 20 Democratic state lawmakers, as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Internal reviews found lawmakers were initially unaware of the hit list due to notification delays.
Physical security for state-owned facilities in Harrisburg, including the Capitol Complex and Governor's Mansion, is managed by the Pennsylvania Capitol Police under the Department of General Services, working alongside state police intelligence details, according to Spotlight PA. In May, Pennsylvania Democratic and Republican legislative leaders issued a joint statement describing escalating political threats against public officials as “a symptom of a greater sickness in our democracy” that has reached astounding levels, Spotlight PA reported. Hoodline has also previously covered similar cases under the same terroristic threats statute, including a federal email threat case out of Pittsburgh in May.
