LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal authorities in Nevada say they arrested a Las Vegas man with seven registered guns and charged him with making Facebook threats to harm President Barack Obama.
Records show that 55-year-old Tyrone Paul Ponthieux was arrested last week on a sealed criminal complaint that also accuses him of possessing weapons and marijuana with intent to sell.
The complaint was unsealed following Ponthieux's arraignment Friday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.
It cites posts from November 2014 calling for shooting "out of control congressmen and senators and Obama" and of using a tree chipper to finish the job.
Ponthieux's lawyer, Bill Gamage, says Ponthieux has a First Amendment right to make comments about politicians.
Ponthieux is being held in federal custody pending a preliminary examination of evidence July 10.