The U.S. Attorney's Office for New Hampshire and the Secret Service are both aware of a post on social media made by the state's Libertarian Party that praised as "an American hero" anyone who were to assassinate Vice President Kamala Harris.
The federal agencies confirmed to NBC10 Boston Monday that they knew about Sunday's message — which has drawn widespread condemnation, including from the Libertarian Party's own candidate for president — though they wouldn't confirm whether or not they were investigating they were investigating the inflammatory remark, which was deleted but followed by other such remarks.
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And while the FBI also wouldn't confirm an investigation to NBC10 Boston, a prominent member of the state's Libertarian Party posted video appearing to show two federal agents attempting to question him about the post.
The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire said it deleted the initial post on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday that read, "Anyone who murders Kamala Harris would be an American hero," because of the site's rules, but lamented that libertarians cannot speak freely there.
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Both federal prosecutors and the Secret Service indicated Monday, when asked if they were investigating the post in question, that they investigate threats, though they didn't speak to whether the post in particular.
"We are aware of the tweet. Although the department generally will not confirm or deny any specific investigation, threatening violence is a crime and those who do this will be investigated, prosecuted, and held to account in a court of law," U.S. Attorney Jane Young said in a statement.
A Secret Service spokesman told NBC10 Boston in an email, "The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the social media post made by the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire, and as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence. We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees."
A representative for the FBI's Boston office noted it's standard practice not to confirm or deny whether agents were investigating something.
Jeremy Kauffman, who runs the state party's account on X, responded to a request for comment on the post from NBC10 Boston Monday with an email saying, "The Libertarian Party believes that NBC journalists are lying propagandists who would be physically removed from any decent society."
Kauffman later shared a video on X, which the party re-shared, of a short visit from two people. One identified himself as an FBI agent, who wanted to ask about a post made online. The interview was cut short as Kauffman insisted on recording the encounter.
The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire continued its inflammatory posting on Monday, as well as posting an official statement noting that the post was "merely acknowledging how some members would react to" an "assassination of a tyrannical president" — Abraham Lincoln is one such president, according to the statement — and writing that their style of communicating is intended to advance the cause of libertarianism.
"We want progressives, socialists, and democrats to be embarrassed to live here. While we won't be initiating violence against them, it's good when authoritarians feel unsafe or uncomfortable. Our posts are frequently explicitly intended to advance this cause," the statement said.
On Sunday night, the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate, Chase Oliver, had joined those condemning the initial post, calling it abhorrent.
Sunday also saw the arrest of a man whom federal authorities say may have been trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump at one of Trump's Florida resorts. Other leading figures in New Hampshire shared a message when asked about the divisive tenor of political rhetoric Monday: that there's no place for violence in politics.
"It's dangerous for the candidates, it's inappropriate and it could set us on a really dangerous course for the future as well," political analyst Scott Spradling told NBC10 Boston. "I have a feeling there will be recourse off of a tweet like that."
In interviews, the chairs of the Republican and Democratic parties elaborated on their previous calls to tone down political rhetoric that could insight violence.
"We have to police ourselves. We have to encourage each other to stop it," New Hampshire GOP Chair Chris Ager said. "It's 100% totally unacceptable from anyone, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian."
"Whether it's against Donald Trump or Vice President Harris or anybody, it has no place in American politics," New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley said. "Everyone needs to join together — work together — to try to turn the page on this really ugly history of what's going on in politics right now."
