David Michael Hanson: Phoenix man arrested for making death threats against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Federal agents charged an Arizona man on Tuesday for allegedly making multiple violent threats against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on social media.

A 13-page criminal complaint accused David Michael Hanson of four counts of threats against the president and his successors, one count of threatening the president, and five counts of interstate threats.

According to the US Secret Service, the defendant was previously given a warning after making multiple threats on X, (the social media platform that was formerly known as Twitter) in November 2023. Then, in December 2023, he made threats again.

David Hanson threatened Joe Biden And Kamala Harris

Three violent threats were posted on November 19, 2023, by an X account with a handle that seems to allude to s****l activity.

The first tweet begins, "#joeAndKamala I’m asking you to resign on Monday your alternative is death brutally murdered@youlikethat444 we’re even they #soldoutAmerica #trump2024 in a #landslideVictory i defeated them their admin death & rose from the grave roll on E! Themselves."

The s*x-themed account posted later with the hashtag, “#assassinate and #bombtheWhiteHouse what are you waiting for do it!”

The account repeated the demand for the president's house to be bombed a minute later.

The complaint stated that "a clip from the film Independence Day where the White House appears to be on fire" was included in this second call for a bombing, as reported by Law&Crime.

The account posted at an undisclosed time that day, which said, "#joeAndKamala are dead in less than #365days they’re forced out of office and brutally murdered @JoeBiden and @VP run for your lives or resign on Monday."

This is included in the complaint as well.

A pro-Donald Trump account posted the following a few hours later: "#joeAndKamala dead (skull emoji) required tomorrow we want your resignation."

Allegedly, this post featured a screen grab of a submission page where the defendant's first and last names were displayed.

A minute later, in response to a post by one of Biden's official X accounts, the Trump-themed account wrote: "Because your incompetent #resignation or #assassination your choice."

According to federal authorities, Hanson's use of his name and the posting of pictures and videos of himself that matched the photo on his driver's license allowed them to link the two accounts to him.

David Hanson claimed to post threats to get 'attention'

Hanson spoke by phone, internet, and in person with two federal agents between November 20, 2023, and November 22, 2023.

Throughout those interviews, the defendant claimed he believed the First Amendment protected his threats, was informed that it did not, and then “explained he understood and would not do it again.”

Authorities claim that by the end of December, the threats had resumed.

Hanson allegedly said that the current president and vice president are "dead (skull emoji) & buried" and made two threats about carrying out a mass shooting at a school.

The University of New Mexico used three completely new X accounts with handles that were thematically inclusive of: (1) Tokyo, Japan; (2) an idiom that refers to lions; and (3) another seemingly-pro-Trump slogan.

The complaint states that Hanson "downplayed the severity by saying nobody followed his accounts" and "went on to say he posted the threats because he wanted attention" in a subsequent interview after he had allegedly admitted to posting the new series of threats.

When asked directly about the threat to UNM, Hanson allegedly replied that he was angry because, according to the criminal complaint, he had been accepted into a master's program, given a scholarship, and cleared to receive student loans until a female student formally complained to the university about an "incident" involving him.

It is stated that the complaint from the university was "varied" in nature. According to Hanson, UNM withheld his admission and student loans after learning about the woman's accusation without first hearing his side of the story.

The complaint claims that the defendant became "emotional" while communicating this information.

According to the criminal complaint, "Continuing being emotional HANSON stated that he felt trapped in hell (Phoenix) and was trying to get to heaven."

"He needed someone to blame and to get some attention about his plight and that is when he posted about conducting a mass shooting at the University and then subsequently assassinating the POTUS and VPOTUS. Again, HANSON stated that he was just ranting in the moment on a platform that nobody follows."