NH man plotted to kill presidential candidate, supporters at campaign event: DOJ

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An optimistic presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy predicts he’ll 'shatter expectations' in the 2024 GOP race

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, in a Fox Digital interview, agues that the voters supporting him are not being measured in the polls.

PORTSMOUTH, NH — A New Hampshire man who sent text messages threatening Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and attendees at a campaign event was arrested Monday, the Justice Department announced.

Tyler Anderson, 30, of Dover, New Hampshire, was charged with transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another, and was scheduled to make an initial appearance today in federal court in Concord in the afternoon.

According to the charging documents, Anderson received a text message from the victim’s campaign notifying him of a political event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Anderson responded to the text message on Dec. 8, stating: "Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!" and "I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then f--- their corpses." 

Ramaswamy, asked about the news later on Monday afternoon, told reporters "I'm grateful to law enforcement for responding as rapidly and as effectively as they did."

"I'm grateful for the team that's around us and they've been doing a great job in making sure that I'm kept safe," the candidate added, as he pointed to his security team. "Between retired police officers and ex-military and otherwise, I feel very secure in the position we're in."

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Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a campaign event at the Roundabout Diner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Dec. 11, 2023. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for Ramaswamy's campaign, highlighted in a statement soon after word of the arrest was reported, that "our security team worked closely with New Hampshire state police, who are some of the best in the nation. We’re going to let the investigators do their work and figure out who this person is and what their motives might be."

The charge against Anderson comes with the possibility of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. 

Ramaswamy hosted the campaign event on Monday morning at the Roundabout Diner, in Portsmouth.

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The multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur and first-time candidate spoke and took questions for roughly an hour from a crowd of close to 100 people. 

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a campaign event at the Roundabout Diner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Dec. 11, 2023. A New Hampshire man was arrested for allegedly sending text messages threatening to kill Ramaswamy and other attendees at Monday's political event. (Fox News - Paul Steinhauser)

Asked on Friday, as he campaigned in Iowa, whether he's received threats on his life and if he was concerned for his safety, Ramaswamy told reporters "we are confident in terms of our position."

As he runs for the White House, Ramaswamy has highlighted that if elected, he would shutter a number of federal government departments and agencies, including the FBI.

Asked on Monday afternoon if he still supports such a move, Ramaswamy reiterated that "the 15,000 frontline agents are doing immensely important work and that these are good people, but we need to reorganize them to the U.S. Marshals, to the DEA, to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, where they have greater specialized mission and are able to really carry out their tasks without a lot of the bureaucratic, bureaucratic overflow."

"I said, We're keeping them, but we're going to reorganize it in a way that allows them to better perform their duties," he added.

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The 38-year-old Ramaswamy, whose initial surge of support earlier this year was one of the biggest surprises in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination, has seen his poll numbers flatline or edge down this autumn.

With five weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar, Ramaswamy faces a steep uphill climb in a race where former President Donald Trump remains the commanding front-runner.

Fox News' David Spunt, Chase Williams, James Levinson, and Matthew Reidy contributed to this story

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