Man, 19, is arrested after 'plotting to execute Joe Biden and visiting a Wendy's four miles from former VP's Delaware home - before cops found his van loaded with guns, explosives and child porn'
A North Carolina man has been arrested after his van was found loaded with guns and explosives and a probe found he was plotting to potentially assassinate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, officials say.
Alexander Hillel Treisman, 19, who went by the alias Alexander S. Theiss and is originally from Seattle, was arrested in late May.
Employees at a bank in Kannapolis called police to investigate a white van that had been left in the parking lot and they discovered inside a trove of weapons and explosives including an AR-15 style rifle, books on bomb making, and more than $500,000, leading to his arrest.
A Joint Terrorism Task Forces investigation found he had extensively researched Joe Biden, was obsessed with mass murders, had an interest in racist ideologies, and posessed child pornography.
Treisman posted an iFunny meme on April 15, 2020 with the caption 'should I kill joe biden?'
Records show he traveled to a Wendy’s within four miles of Joe Biden’s home on May 3.
On May 16 he took a screenshot of a note that was 'consistent with a surveillance and attack plan connected to a possible threat against Joe Biden or other targeted act of violence.' At the end of the checklist was the word 'execute', as per WBTV.
North Carolina man Alexander Hillel Treisman, 19, was arrested in early May after his white van was found to contain a trove of weapons, explosives, and an investigation found he was allegedly plotting to assassinate presidential candidate Joe Biden
A Joint Terrorism Task Forces investigation found he posted an iFunny meme on April 15, 2020 with the caption 'should I kill joe biden?' He had also traveled to a Wendy’s within four miles of Joe Biden’s home and wrote a checklist note that ended with 'execute'. Biden pictured Thursday in New Castle, Delaware
Treisman conducted internet searches between March and May 2020 seeking information about Joe Biden’s home address, state gun laws, rifle parts, and night vision goggles.
Treisman is currently being held in jail on child pornography charges. He has not been charged with any crime related to his possession of the guns of evidence pointing towards a terror plot.
In an order from earlier this month a federal magistrate judge said Treisman should continue to be held in jail due to his pornography charges as well his plans for the potential terror plot.
According to police who investigated his white van he was armed with an arsenal of weapons.
'Through the windows, KPD officers observed an AR-15 style rifle, a box for a Taurus .380 handgun, a cannister of the explosive material Tannerite, and a box of 5.56 caliber ammunition,' the order said, citing testimony from an FBI agent who investigated the case as a part of the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
A search found approximately $509,000 of U.S. currency (believed to be Defendant’s inheritance), books (about survival, bomb making, improved weapons and Islam), drawing of swastikas and planes crashing into buildings as well as five additional guns.
When Treisman was arrested officers found he possessed drivers licenses from three different states.
Joe Biden with wife Jill pictured arriving at the Nashville International Airport ahead of the second presidential debate on Thursday
They also found he had purchased his weapons in states across the country including Washington, Kansas, New Hampshire and West Virginia.
They also found child pornography on eight different electronic devices along with other photos related to plans and ideas for possible terrorist acts.
Authorities also found a handwritten 'Autobiography' in his jail cell that referenced mass shootings.
Investigators said they found a note created on October 15, 2019 on Treisman’s Samsung S9 cell phone that described a plan to commit a mass shooting at a mall food court on Christmas or Black Friday.
He also had still images from video footage of the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shooting that he downloaded on March 21, 2020 and internet searches related to it.
He had also taken a screenshot of a February 18, 2020 Reddit post by username AlextheBodacious referencing pedophilia and executing people he hates.
On February 22, 2020 Treisman made an internet post referencing raping children and posting child porn.
On April 3, 2020 he made an audio recording narrating ‘the perfect porn video’ where he described killing two parents with a shotgun then raping and impregnating their young daughter.
On April 8, 2020 AlextheBodacious stated that he was ‘going to do a columbine for a while, I think it would better to put it towards something more memorable’.
An investigation found he had researched Joe Biden's address, visited a Wendy's four miles from the former VP's home and made a checklist that said 'execute'
The judge order said agents had found a picture of a rental agreement for an apartment in Canada and e-mails between Treisman to a Canadian immigration lawyer about moving to the country.
A lawyer for Treisman asked an agent if he was aware that the defendant had been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, according to the order.
The court filing said agents had asked Treisman if he had any mental health conditions and they were told he did not.
Following the evidence the judged ruled that 'no combination of available release conditions would reasonably assure the safety of the community, and that a preponderance of evidence establishes that no conditions would ensure Defendant’s presence in court.'
The Kannapolis Police Department Chief Terry Spry said Thursday: 'The suspect was turned over to federal authorities pending further investigation. I am proud of our officers for their due diligence and quick actions that allowed us to prevent an incident from happening.'