ATLANTA - Authorities arrested an Alabama man on Wednesday, accused of traveling to Atlanta two years ago with the intent to kill then-President Joe Biden, state prosecutors said.
What we know:
Adam Benjamin Hall, 23, appeared in federal court on Wednesday after being charged with interstate stalking on Jan. 26.
Prosecutors presented evidence at court accusing Hall of driving from Alabama to Atlanta on Jun. 27, 2024, with plans to sneak into the presidential debate hosted by CNN that night to kill former President Biden.
Attorneys showed a map allegedly on Hall’s phone that displayed a location marker indicating the phone was three blocks from the debate site about 30 minutes before it began.
Investigators also accuse Hall of writing a note labeled as "exposé" or "manifesto" addressed "[t]o all the Palestinian journalists . . . and in remembrance of the ones who lost their lives along the way."
Key points from the note allegedly written by Hall are below:
- "Hopefully, my actions snap you all awake long enough to thoroughly understand the point I will make in this exposé."
- "Our enemies are not in any other country but our own and Israel’s."
- "It’s time we overthrow these bastards and threaten to pull a f*****g D-Day on Tel Aviv . . . ."
- "On the week of Jul. 4, forget your f--king barbecues and pool parties. Instead do the patriotic thing by marching on Capitol Hill, the White House, and the Supreme Court armed with whatever you have . . . . Unless the feds shoot first, you must not engage. If they are unwilling to comply after a few hours, then I permit you to march into those buildings and do what is necessary to regain control of our country from the deep state."
The manifesto concluded with "Free Palestine" next to a flag emoji of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority, state prosecutors explained.
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating, and additional charges could be filed.
What we don't know:
Prosecutors did not explain the gap between the alleged stalking incident and Hall’s arrest or how they discovered Hall’s alleged assassination attempt.
It is unclear whether Hall had a weapon during the June incident or whether any weapons have been recovered that were in Hall’s possession.
The Source: Information in this report comes from a US Department of Justice release.