A New York man was arrested after threatening to kill Georgia Rep. Mike Collins and his son-in-law, as Collins tied the danger to his Democratic rival’s campaign rhetoric.
The FBI said Monday that agents arrested a New York man for threatening to kill U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and the congressman’s son-in-law. Officials did not release the man’s name or the formal charges.
USA TODAY reported that Butts County Sheriff’s deputies traveled to New York at the end of last week to help federal investigators identify the person behind the threats. Collins lives in Butts County, Georgia, and is running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff.
FBI Buffalo Special Agent-in-Charge Allen D. Davis II stressed that distance offers no shield for people who threaten violence.
"State lines don't protect those who threaten violence, and they do not stop the FBI and our law enforcement partners from pursuing them."
Davis added that strong partnerships with local law enforcement remain critical to the bureau’s work.
Collins posted on X on Monday thanking the FBI and Butts County law enforcement for moving fast and for “protect(ing) my family.” He linked the threat to a wider pattern of political attacks.
"No American should have to worry that their home could be the next Butler, Pennsylvania or Utah Valley University."
Those references point to the prior assassination attempt against President Trump in Butler and the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Collins did not stop at gratitude. He argued that reckless political messaging helps create the climate for violence.
"It's become fashionable for leftist(s) to say anything they want about their Republican opponents to try and irrationally and inaccurately paint them as monsters. My opponent clearly likes to play that irresponsible game, and here we are."
He went further:
"When you mix false accusations with inflammatory rhetoric, it fuels the lunatics who want to settle political disagreements with violence."
Collins called on Ossoff to apologize, retract what he called false attacks, and campaign on issues facing Georgians.
An Ossoff campaign spokesperson told USA TODAY on Tuesday that the senator “condemns all threats of violence.” The same campaign has made alleged family connections a central line of attack against Collins.
That fight centers on David Alan Scheer II, Collins’ son-in-law, who is married to Collins’ daughter Summer. A July CNN report, cited in the USA TODAY coverage, described Scheer’s social media record. Scheer’s Instagram account @scheereddzz has more than 293,000 followers. His YouTube channel has about 346,000 subscribers. He describes himself as a “Christian, Husband, Father, Carpenter.”
According to that CNN reporting carried in the article, Scheer has shared material promoting the white supremacist group Patriot Front and has posted content spanning years that includes Nazi imagery and claims about Jews. In a June post last year, Scheer wrote that the “deep state” is “the same old Synagogue of Satan that killed our Lord Jesus. Nothing new under the sun,” alongside a meme casting AIPAC as holding “U.S. Politicians” hostage. A now-deleted video saved by CNN carried the line “Gen-Z doesn't hate Hitler.” In a YouTube comment reply, he wrote, “There's nothing wrong with White Nationalism.”
CNN also reported that Scheer registered to vote at a property owned by Collins, appeared in family photos used for campaign sites and election-night events, and created promotional materials for Collins’ trucking company.
Collins has refused to treat Scheer’s posts as his own voice. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that “nobody speaks for me.” He has cut press conferences short when asked about Scheer and has not issued the broad public denunciation Democrats demand.
That choice leaves Democrats free to keep the family association at the center of the race. It also leaves Collins free to argue that voters should judge him on his record and on the issues, not on social-media posts by a relative. The arrest now puts a concrete threat against Collins and his son-in-law into the same political fight.
Federal investigators still have not identified the arrested man in public statements. They have not released charging details or the exact wording of the threats. What they have made clear is the outcome: a New York suspect is in custody after local Georgia deputies crossed state lines to help the FBI run him down.
Threats against a member of Congress and his family are a law-enforcement matter first. Voters can decide whether campaigns that paint opponents as monsters make those threats more likely, and whether condemnation without restraint is enough.
