Illinois man accused of threatening Lt. Gov. Flanagan after Annunciation shooting

Lt. Governor Flanagan responds to death threats

Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan responded to the arrest warrant of a man who is accused of sending death threats to her on social media. FOX 9's Chenue Her has the latest report.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - An Illinois man has been charged via warrant for making threatening statements against Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan following the mass shooting at Annunciation Church.

Illinois man charged

What we know:

Caden Sluder, 22, of Oglesby, Illinois, is charged via warrant with threats of violence over posts he made on X in the hours after the shooting at Annunciation Church.

Authorities say Sluder was posting with the username lfoke85949 and had responded to two posts that Lt. Gov. Flanagan made about the shooting. Flanagan's posts mourned the loss of life in the shooting and thanked first responders dealing with the tragedy.

When FOX 9 checked on Thursday, the lfoke85949 account had been suspended by X.

The backstory:

Troopers were alerted to Sluder's comments by the Minnesota BCA, which spotted the comments using a monitoring system.

Checking the lfoke85949 account, troopers said they found two threatening comments the account made in response to Flanagan's posts:

• "You should be genuinely shot and killed."
• "Children’s blood is on your hands and soon it will be coming out of your mouth and f----ing throat as we beat you. You should be strung up by the neck #ENDPEGGYFLANAGANSLIFE."

'I was pissed off…'

What they're saying:

According to the criminal complaint, troopers called Sluder on the evening of Aug. 27 to ask him about the posts. According to the charges, troopers said the caller initially said his name was "Luke" but then later admitted he was Caden when troopers said they would reach out to the Oglesby Police Department to find him.

When told the call was about threats he made to Flanagan, Sluder denied he meant any harm. "I’m not actually gonna f---ing do anything. I’m not crazy," Sluder told the trooper, the charges state.

Sluder told troopers he was upset about a photo that circulated online among conservative circles following the shooting that showed Lt. Gov. Flanagan wearing a "Protect Trans Kids" shirt.

Troopers say Sluder told them he was "pissed off and Christians got killed in Minnesota and the Lieutenant Governor was wearing a trans shirt… Dude, I’m just pissed that Christians got killed. You should be too. Everyone should be. I know it doesn’t help, but it doesn’t f---ing help when trans are killing people like that. She’s wearing a shirt like that. It’s just not cool."

Dig deeper:

Sluder also said he made the comments using his "throwaway account" which he had made the day prior and, he said, was already gone. Sluder didn't remember the account name and said he had no intention of traveling to Minnesota to cause harm. Troopers say he also apologized for making the statements.

Troopers say Sluder also indicated he was just joking and exercising his First Amendment rights. The statue that Sluder is charged under carves out a provision for "reckless" statements that make another person feel terrorized.