A New York man who allegedly posted videos threatening to "put a bullet" in U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's head, and who told investigators he had traveled to three locations trying to find her, now faces federal charges.
Daniel Kretsinger, a resident of Hauppauge, New York, was taken into custody on August 11 after federal authorities say he posted two videos to X on June 30 containing explicit threats against Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York charges Kretsinger with transmitting a threat to injure a person across state lines, a federal offense carrying up to five years in prison.
The complaint lays out a disturbing sequence. In the first video, posted as a reply to a post from Pirro's X account, Kretsinger allegedly stated he was "specifically targeting" her and would come to Washington, D.C., to shoot her. Minutes later, he allegedly posted a second video repeating the threat in graphic terms and adding that he might also target President Trump.
Law enforcement located and interviewed Kretsinger on July 9. During that interview, he acknowledged the X account was his, the New York Post reported. He also disclosed that he had previously traveled to Washington, D.C., Florida, and Long Island "in efforts to find" Pirro, a detail that elevates the case beyond online bluster into something far more concrete.
Whether Kretsinger ever made contact with Pirro or came close to locating her remains unclear from the complaint as described in public reporting. But the travel alone distinguishes this case from the thousands of vile social-media threats that law enforcement triages every year. This was not someone ranting from a couch. By his own admission, he went looking.
An arrest warrant was issued on August 7. Four days later, U.S. Marshals took Kretsinger into custody.
Pirro has been at the center of several high-profile federal prosecutions since taking over as the top federal prosecutor in Washington. She recently announced felony charges against a Kentucky woman accused of spray-painting the World War II Memorial, one of a string of cases that have drawn national attention to her office's enforcement posture.
Federal prosecutors wanted Kretsinger held. A magistrate judge disagreed. Over the government's objection, the unnamed judge released Kretsinger to an inpatient psychiatric treatment program, where he is required to remain. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York confirmed those conditions to the Post.
That decision deserves scrutiny. A man who allegedly threatened to shoot a sitting U.S. Attorney, who allegedly referenced assassinating the president, and who admitted to traveling across multiple states trying to find his target was sent to a treatment facility rather than held in federal custody pending trial. The government objected, and the judge overruled it.
Pirro's role as Washington's chief federal prosecutor has put her in the middle of politically charged cases. A D.C. crime forum featuring Pirro was canceled for the second time recently, with organizers offering no explanation, a pattern that raises its own questions about the climate surrounding her work.
The language in the complaint is explicit. In the first video, Kretsinger allegedly said:
"Because you're such a lying despicable piece of s*** I'm specifically targeting you when I come to Washington, D.C., and put a bullet directly between your eyes c***. And if Trump keeps up his bulls*** I may kill the president too."
Minutes later, in the second video, he allegedly continued:
"I'm gonna come to DC very f***in soon sweetheart and I'm gonna put a bullet in your f***in head. I love you, you evil lying dirt bag thieving f***ing b***!"
A spokesperson for Pirro's office responded to the arrest in a statement: "No one should ever be threatened or targeted for violence. Public officials are no exception, and we commend the United States Marshals Service for its swift action."
The federal charge Kretsinger faces carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Whether prosecutors pursue additional charges or whether the psychiatric release complicates the path to trial remains to be seen. Kretsinger did not immediately respond to the Post's request for comment.
Pirro's tenure has not been without friction, even within conservative circles. President Trump publicly rebuked her over a dropped vandalism case involving a former Olympian, and she later dismissed remaining charges in that matter. But policy disagreements and prosecutorial disputes are the normal friction of democratic governance. They are not an invitation for death threats.
Several open questions remain. The complaint does not reveal whether Kretsinger has a prior criminal record, what specifically prompted the videos, or what the government argued when it objected to his release. The name of the magistrate judge who freed him and the identity of the psychiatric facility have not been made public.
When a man posts graphic threats against a federal prosecutor, admits he traveled to three locations trying to find her, and references killing the president, and then a judge sends him to a treatment program instead of a cell, the system is telling the public something about how seriously it takes the safety of the people enforcing the law. The public should listen carefully.