SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - We continue to follow the latest developments on a story we first brought to you Wednesday; a Great Barrington man remains in custody after making threatening posts online directed at President Donald Trump.

We’ve learned more about 45-year-old Andrew Emerald of Great Barrington and the exact federal charges he’s now facing. Emerald made his first appearance in federal court here in Springfield Wednesday afternoon, where he pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors said threats were posted on Facebook over the span of several months, from May through July of 2025.

The posts include repeated, escalating threats showing intent to kill president trump, with Emerald framing it as a “mission” and his “constitutional duty”.

Here is one of the posts from Emerald’s Facebook page which is still active right now. It says in part:

“we’re going to kill trump on public television, so the world sees what we do to monsters....if trump is not dead by 2026...I’m going to Mar-a-logo and I’m going after myself.”

Authorities also say when they searched his home after his arrest, they found several blades and daggers. Emerald was indicted by a federal grand jury on eight counts of interstate transmission of threatening communications each count carrying up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Western Mass News spoke with local defense attorney Jared Olanoff about the charge Emerald is now facing. He said in cases like this the government doesn’t have to prove a person intended to act on a threat only that it was made on the internet, “all you need to really do is recklessly make a threat to another person. It doesn’t even have to be the president under that statute. You don’t have to intend to carry out the threat. You don’t have to intend that the person be threatened by it. All that’s required is that, really, that the threat be made and that it be done in using interstate communications.”

We’ll be digging deeper in this case throughout the evening so be sure to stick with us both on air and online for the latest details.

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