DENVER — A man from Colorado Springs was charged after allegedly making threats against Tesla owners, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Colorado.
Carl Howard Payne, Jr., was charged with interstate communication of threats.
A criminal complaint shows that on March 20, 2025, threatening emails were sent to media outlets across state lines.
In the email, titled "Declaration of War," there were threats against President Trump's cabinet members. It goes on to describe how Tesla owners would be killed on Thursday, April 17, 2025 until Elon Musk was dead.
The same email was sent to ProPublica and Thomson Reuters, which is a New York-based companies, from Signal user "c."
Around April 2, similarly threatening letters were delivered to insurance companies through the United States Postal Service.
The return address listed "The White House," but the letters were postmarked in Denver.
After reviewing the IP address from a mailing service called Proton Mail and other information, the U.S. Attorney's Office determined that Payne was the owner of the email account.
Further investigation is being led by the Denver Field Office of the FBI, and prosecution will be led by Assistant United States Attorney Jasand Mock.
