Colorado man arrested 2 days before waging "war" against Elon Musk, Trump appointees
Federal authorities arrested a 58-year-old Colorado Springs man after unravelling the origin of a "Declaration Of War" that threatened harm or death to Elon Musk, owners of his Tesla vehicles, and members of President Donald Trump's Cabinet.
Carl Howard Payne was taken into custody Tuesday and a search warrant was executed on his residence in the 5300 block of Picket Drive.
Emails were sent March 20th to media outlets which declared war on the 47th Presidential Cabinet through "killings" of "owners, drivers, and occupants of Tesla Swasticars," as shown in Payne's federal arrest affidavit. Specific methods of attack were listed, as were numerous complaints against the president himself. But the stated goal of the alleged operation was Musk's elimination.
"He is no longer welcome to be alive," the messages stated about the Tesla CEO and Senior Advisor to the president.
The lethal attacks were to begin April 17th, the message stated.
Similar hard copy versions of the message were mailed to the national headquarters of several insurance companies on April 8. The letters contained postmarks from a USPS post office in Denver.
Like the previous ones, the messages concluded "We are Luigi. We Are One."
Direct actions against the president and his cabinet were not made.
Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Joint Terrorism Task Force retraced the roots of the digital messages Payne allegedly sent to the media outlets. According to the affidavit, Payne used a Proton email address, Signal app, and a burner phone to conceal his identity. Investigators were alerted to his accounts after finding an unusually high number of log-ins and failed log-ins from an unfamiliar devices, locations, or networks. That information is tracked by Google, per the affidavit. Other unusual activity was traced through Payne's VPN or network provider.
Messages from his burner phone, too, matched the number Payne had listed in his personal contact info while applying for unemployment benefits in February.
Payne has "extensive experience with technology management and software industries," according to the affidavit. He has worked for nine years as a engineer and consultant specializing in Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing platform.
A search of online public records shows Payne moved to Colorado Springs from Terrell, Texas, two years ago.
Payne's first hearing in Denver federal court is scheduled for Tuesday. He has been charged with making interstate threats. The maximum sentence for that offense is five years in prison and fines.
