Jeffrey Allen Petersen
Introduction
Jeffrey Allen Petersen is a 68-year-old man from Minnetonka, Minnesota, who was found guilty on all 20 counts at a federal jury trial on October 15, 2026 — ten counts of threatening to murder U.S. judges and elected officials and ten counts of interstate transmission of threats to injure — for a campaign of online posts threatening to murder eight federal judges, including an Associate Supreme Court Justice, and at least four elected United States officials. The verdict followed a trial before U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz in Minneapolis; a sentencing hearing will be scheduled by the court at a date yet to be determined.
Background Information
In July 2025, the U.S. Marshals Service for the District of Maryland received a report from its judicial security intelligence unit regarding threatening comments posted to an article on a website referencing a federal judge in that district. On at least one website, Petersen used the username “Adam Lanza” — the name of the mass murderer who shot and killed 26 people, 20 of them schoolchildren aged six and seven, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. The Marshals Service investigated the post and found it was made from an IP address assigned to Petersen with a service address in Minnetonka, then referred the matter to the FBI.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted. A federal jury found Petersen guilty on all 20 counts on October 15, 2026, after a trial before Judge Patrick J. Schiltz. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
During the investigation, law enforcement received additional reports about similar threatening comments posted on other sites toward federal judges and elected officials across the United States. Some posts carried the username “Behring.a” with the registered account name “Anders Breivik Behring” — Breivik being the mass murderer who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011; others used the username “james holmes,” the 2012 Aurora theater shooter who killed 12 and injured 62. The IP addresses of those usernames also traced back to Petersen in Minnesota, tying a library of mass-murderer identities to a single poster threatening the people who serve in America’s courts and legislatures.
After learning Petersen was the registered user behind the accounts, federal agents obtained and executed a search warrant at his Minnetonka residence and recovered several electronic devices. Forensic examinations showed he used the email addresses associated with the threatening posts, and investigators found a June 2025 web search history on one device with terms including “MN senators shot,” “adam lanza,” “anders brevik,” and “james holmes.” In total, Petersen’s posts threatened to murder eight federal judges, including an Associate Supreme Court Justice, and at least four elected United States officials — the conduct the jury convicted on across all twenty counts.
Public Reaction and Consequences
United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced the verdict, stating, “My office has no tolerance for political violence and threats of political violence. We will prosecute — to the fullest extent of the law — those who intimidate or threaten public servants who are just doing their jobs.” FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson said threats against federal judges and lawmakers “strike at the heart of our judicial system and our democracy,” noting the conviction on all 20 counts came “at a time when Minnesota communities are especially mindful of political violence.”
The case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI with assistance from other federal and local partners, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Albania Concepcion, Michael Blackburn, and Benjamin Bejar. The release lists the case under the domestic-terrorism topic — the government’s classification for threats aimed at intimidating public officials through mass-violence imagery.
Current Status
Petersen, 68, stands convicted on all 20 counts and awaits sentencing before Judge Schiltz on a date the court will set. Each count of threatening to murder a U.S. judge or elected official and each count of interstate transmission of threats to injure carries its own penalty, and with twenty counts of conviction the sentencing range will be determined at the hearing. The release does not describe his custody status or any conditions of release pending sentencing.
Impact on Their Career/Life
At 68, Petersen’s decision to spend 2025 posting murder threats against judges and officials under the names of the country’s most notorious mass shooters has produced a twenty-count felony conviction and a sentencing that will account for every target: eight federal judges including a Supreme Court justice, and at least four elected officials. The forensic trail — the IP addresses, the email accounts, the June 2025 search history with the words “MN senators shot” — is now the public record the jury credited. His case joins the District of Minnesota’s domestic-terrorism docket in a year when that district also prosecuted the stalking and murder of Minnesota state legislators, a context the FBI’s announcement invoked directly.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota, “Federal Jury Finds Minnetonka Man Guilty on All Counts for Threatening to Murder Federal Judges and Elected Officials” — source