The U.S. Attorney’s Office says a Chicago man has been charged after sending violent electronic threats to the Secret Service and to the President, and authorities arrested him in early April as they pursue detention and prosecution.
The Northern District of Illinois has charged Michael Kovco, 29, with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce after a pair of messages sent through the official White House website. Prosecutors say one message threatened to “shoot up” a Secret Service office and to “hunt” an agent’s family, while an earlier message targeted the President and a member of his family.
According to the criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Chicago, Kovco was arrested on April 3, 2026, and a detention hearing is set for April 10, 2026, where the government will seek continued detention pending trial. The filings allege the threats followed a March 17 contact and another visit to Kovco’s home by federal officers.
On March 19, 2026, the complaint says, Michael Kovco sent an electronic message via the official White House website that stated, “I’m gonna hunt the secret service agent that comes to my door’s family so he better not tell me any identifying information at all like first or last name or pet name or address or place of work because im going to buy a small concealable firearm and go shoot up his place of work immediately if he tells me anything.”
The March 19 message was sent roughly two hours after a Secret Service agent and two Secret Service task force officers visited Kovco’s Chicago residence to ask about a prior threat allegedly transmitted on March 17, the complaint states. That earlier electronic message is described as directly threatening President Donald J. Trump and one of the President’s sons, and it was signed, “Mr. I’m going to [expletive] kill your child Kovco.”
Federal prosecutors announced the complaint and arrest, identifying Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Dai Tran, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Chicago Field Office, as the officials handling the case. The government says the Chicago Police Department also assisted and that Assistant U.S. Attorney Nina Ruvinsky is representing the United States.
“As I have stated repeatedly during my first year as United States Attorney, it is never acceptable to threaten a law enforcement officer, political figure, or a member of their family,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros. “Under my watch, political violence will be dealt with as the serious federal crime that it is. Working closely with our federal and state law enforcement partners, the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office will find, arrest, and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those responsible for criminally threatening the safety of our public officials and law enforcement officers.”
Special Agent-in-Charge Dai Tran emphasized the Secret Service mission and the response to threats. “The U.S. Secret Service’s top priority is safeguarding the President of the United States and all those we protect,” said SAIC Tran. “We take any threats seriously and aggressively pursue them to ensure our protectees’ safety. I commend our agents’ work in bringing this defendant to justice. I want to thank our partners at the Chicago Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois for their help in pursuing this case.”
The complaint makes clear federal prosecutors view threats against protectees and law enforcement as serious federal offenses, and the charge Kovco faces carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. If convicted, sentencing will follow federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which the court must consider when imposing a reasonable sentence.
The public notice in the complaint reiterates a core legal principle: a complaint is not evidence of guilt and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The filing and the scheduled detention hearing mark the next formal steps in the federal prosecution, where the government must present its case and the defendant may respond through counsel.
Investigators say the alleged messages were transmitted through an official federal website and that law enforcement moved quickly to identify and arrest the suspect after the threats were made. Authorities stress they will continue working with local and federal partners to investigate threats and protect public officials and those who serve them.
