A former Coast Guard lieutenant and sharpshooter has been accused in federal court of threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump, writing multiple times on social media that he'd be "willing to pitch in $100 for a contract."
Peter Stinson, of Oakton, Virginia, repeatedly threatened to kill Trump in social media posts, court documents filed in a Virginia federal court alleged Monday. The documents were shared on X by CBS News Justice Correspondent Scott MacFarlane.
An FBI affidavit said Stinson posted hundreds of violent, graphic, and escalating threats on the platforms X, Bluesky, Reddit, and Instagram for five years beginning in 2020. Stinson self-identified member of Antifa with a background in national security and emergency operations.
In April 2020, investigators said he posted an explicit call to crowdfund an assassination attempt, writing: “I’d be willing to pitch in $100 for a contract. Who wants to join me? We could solve the solvable part of this problem in a crack.”
He made a similar comment in February 2025, court documents alleged, writing on Bluesky: "Can we crowd source a contract hit?”
The latter post came a day after Stinson posted a violent fantasy on the same platform he "would twist the knife after sliding it into his fatty flesh.”
And in January of this year, Stinson said, “Somebody needs to do it. Somebody with the skills to do it right. Somebody with the experience. Somebody with the right tools.”
Separately, Stinson has said he believes that someone who "kills the President to save the country has broken no laws."
A judge ordered Stinson to remain held in jail pending the outcome of a hearing Wednesday, MacFarlane reported.
Court documents noted that Stinson was a Coast Guard officer from 1988 to 2021, achieving the rank of lieutenant. He received firearms training and was awarded sharpshooter ribbons for both pistol and rifle. He also received extensive training in operations planning and was an instructor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Incident Command Systems, courses taught to prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies.
Additionally, Stinson received a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College, court documents said.
The allegations come after authorities said Vance Boelter, 57, assassinated Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman. Police arrested Boelter following a manhunt. He is also accused of shooting and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, at their home.
It also comes after two assassination plots against Trump last year, including one over the summer in which a bullet grazed his ear.
