Raleigh man who posted Facebook video threatening Trump faces federal charges

Twumasi Duah-Mensah, The News & Observer on Jun 17, 2026

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A Raleigh man who allegedly posted Facebook videos threatening to kill President Donald Trump was arrested and charged by federal officials Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced Wednesday.

Christopher Key-Torrion Carnes, 33, was charged with communicating threats against the president of the United States. Carnes is accused of posting several videos to the Facebook account Yage Sinbad Genie, expressing plans to kill Trump, according to the federal complaint.

The arrest comes a week after Carnes was charged with allegedly making a bomb threat at a Raleigh police substation. In that incident, he faces two charges of perpetrating a hoax by use of false bomb or other device stemming from the June 10 incident at the Raleigh Police Department’s Northeast District, court records show. No device was found.

In the arrest announced Wednesday, court documents allege that Carnes posted two videos on May 12 and 13, where he stated his name, date of birth and last four digits of his social security number before allegedly threatening Trump, according to the complaint. Carnes said he was not scared of being charged with an act of terrorism and was ready to shoot at any law enforcement agencies, directing viewers to contact the Secret Service.

Raleigh police spoke with Carnes in the parking lot at Target off Capital Boulevard on May 18, according to the complaint. Carnes allegedly confirmed he posted the videos to Facebook and told officers he was originally from Georgia but decided to spend time in Raleigh to attend church, according to court records.

Carnes told officers he had been living in his red Dodge Charger for a few weeks, according to the complaint. He said he was prescribed sleep medicine and medicine for ADHD, but he wasn’t taking it because it upset his stomach — instead self-medicating with cannabis he bought legally. Carnes’ only other income was from Social Security.

On June 5 and 6, Carnes allegedly posted several videos stating he had a pipe bomb and showing viewers what he said was a PVC pipe, a metal pipe and a detonator, according to the complaint. Carnes allegedly said he wanted “to show this to Donald Trump, to Russia, to China and North Korea.”

In many of his videos, Carnes expressed his anger with Operation Epic Fury, the attack which started the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, according to the complaint. Carnes also allegedly dared Trump and law enforcement to come arrest him.

“You are not coming for the terrorist threats ... so you want to build a case, I’m going to help you build it,” Carnes allegedly said, according to the complaint.

Carnes voluntarily came to the Raleigh Police Department’s Investigative Division on June 10, according to the complaint. There, he said he had a warrant for his arrest “before becoming erratic with officers.” A K9 sniffed the air around the vehicle and alerted officers to the presence of a PVC pipe and metal pin, matching what Carnes showed in his videos.

He is being held on a $500,000 bail.