Threats against Minnesota senator, State Capitol lead to charges for Hubbard County man

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Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. (FOX 9 / FOX 9)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Hubbard County man is facing charges for reportedly threatening to kill a Minnesota state senator and "execute" people at the State Capitol.

Threats made against state senator

The backstory:

According to the criminal complaint filed Wednesday, a State Patrol sergeant assigned to threat investigations at the State Capitol received a screenshot of a Facebook post tagging Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen’s page.

The expletive-filled post, reportedly made by an individual identified as John Tobias, read: "I will kill you to get me my mother****ing money you crime syndicate f***s. Tampon Timmy cost me 1.4 million over the bulls**t unconstitutional covid shutdown I want it now or I’m going to do my constitutional duty and kill everyone [sic] of you treasonous mother****ers immediately."

The State Patrol sergeant was also notified that a man identifying himself as Tobias had called the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, and the conversation had been recorded. 

"Tobias said that he would like something done about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ‘unconstitutionally’ shutting down the state due to COVID-19," the complaint explained. "Tobias claimed that there was never any COVID, that he lost $1.4 million, and said that if he did not get his money back he would ‘come down’ and ‘execute every mother****er in them f***ing capitol buildings and frickin’ everywhere.’" 

A Hubbard County Sheriff investigator, who was already familiar with Tobias from a previous threats investigation in January, executed a search warrant at Tobias’s home, where he was taken into custody. During the search, authorities recovered nine firearms, including an AR-15 rifle and several handguns, along with 45 boxes of ammunition. 

In an interview with investigators, Tobias reportedly acknowledged to making the phone call and Facebook post. While he told investigators he was only "trying to get people’s attention" and had no actual intention of killing anyone, he acknowledged that he understood he cannot threaten to kill people.

Dig deeper:

John Tobias, 58, was charged with two felony counts of threats of violence. He made his first appearance in court on Wednesday morning and remains in custody at the Hubbard County Jail.