Hawaii man charged over threats to kill Michigan governor, attack state capitol

A Hawaii man has been charged with threatening to shoot up the Michigan state capitol and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to federal prosecutors. He was arrested in Texas and ordered detained.

Ronald Saville, 48, of Honolulu, was charged by criminal complaint on Monday with sending interstate communications containing threats, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii.

Prosecutors said Saville emailed the Michigan State Police on May 9, identified himself and referenced the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan. In the email, he said he was “going to walk in with a gun at A.R. 15 and open fire and kill as many people as possible.”

“I mean what I say I’m not a joke,” the email said, according to court records.

A short time later, prosecutors said, Saville sent a second email to Governor Whitmer, saying that “Lancy, Michigan is never gonna be the same again” and that he was going to walk into the state capitol, “shoot it up and kill as many people as possible.”

“Than that I’m coming for you,” the email sent to Whitmer said, according to prosecutors.

Saville called the FBI on May 12 and told an agent that he wanted to kill Whitmer because of her political affiliation. He also said he had been researching online how to travel to Michigan to carry out the threat and still intended to do so.

Saville was ordered detained pending transportation to Hawaii.

The suspect has twice been convicted in federal court in Hawaii for making threats, including threats toward former President George W. Bush in 2006 and former U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway in 2012, according to prosecutors.

If convicted, Saville faces up to five years in prison on each count, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release. The FBI is investigating the case.