Illinois man charged with threatening to attack Fort Bliss personnel and families

An Illinois man has been indicted after allegedly calling Fort Bliss in Texas, claiming ties to Al-Qaeda and threatening to decapitate U.S. military personnel and their families and attack them with explosives, according to federal prosecutors.

Kevin Baskis, 37, of Rantoul, Illinois, was indicted Tuesday on two counts of making threatening interstate communications. Prosecutors said he made the calls from Rantoul to Fort Bliss, a large U.S. Army installation in El Paso, Texas, on June 29 and 30.

In the first call, which lasted about 27 seconds, Baskis claimed to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda in Iraq, declared war against Fort Bliss and its leadership, and threatened to decapitate them and their families, according to a criminal complaint.

The next day, Baskis allegedly called the Fort Bliss dispatch line again, identified himself by his full name, again claimed ties to Al-Qaeda and threatened to attack Fort Bliss personnel and their families with improvised explosive devices, an assault rifle, an M9 pistol and knives. The second call lasted about four minutes, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, Baskis served in the U.S. Army from February 2013 to March 2016 as a military police soldier. His military discharge records said he was involuntarily separated with an honorable discharge for “a personality disorder or other mental condition that does not amount to a medical disability.”

Relatives told investigators that Baskis had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was known to make concerning and sometimes violent statements when he was off his medication, according to the complaint.

Rantoul police also told the FBI they had encountered Baskis several times and knew him to have a mental health history.

Federal agents said the calls were part of a broader pattern of threatening and harassing communications aimed at military bases, government personnel and politicians between September 2025 and June 2026.

The complaint says Baskis previously posted online that he wanted Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State to enter the United States and said he would “take out” leaders and their families at Fort Riley in Kansas.

He also allegedly sent messages to Fort Bragg in North Carolina threatening to “take over” the base and “declare a war with the USA.”

In March, Baskis allegedly sent Facebook messages to a former Army colleague, saying he would “bring a war here to this country with al-Qaeda” and kill him and his family.

The phone number used to call Fort Bliss was tied to Baskis through Google account records and later placed in Rantoul through cellphone location data. FBI agents searched his home on July 1 and seized an iPhone that had been used to make the Fort Bliss calls, according to the complaint.

Baskis was arrested July 1 and remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release if convicted.