Scott Dyer

Introduction

Scott Dyer, 35, of Naugatuck, Connecticut, was arrested on October 14, 2026 on a federal criminal complaint charging him with making interstate threats after he posted a series of statements on YouTube threatening to kill members of the Republican Party and a high-ranking public official — including a claim that he had compiled a spreadsheet of hundreds of people with their personal information and was stockpiling ammunition, guns, and explosive precursors. Dyer appeared before U.S. District Judge S. Dave Vatti in Bridgeport and was released on a $100,000 bond into home confinement under electronic monitoring. The case was announced by U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan and FBI New Haven Special Agent in Charge P.J. O’Brien, and is being prosecuted as part of the federal government’s domestic-terrorism enforcement posture.

Background Information

The charges trace to October 8 and 9, 2026, when — according to allegations in court documents — Dyer posted several threatening comments on YouTube. Among the statements cited in the complaint: “I’m prepared to kill Republicans. Eager to do it actually. I already have targets in my local community selected.” And: “I have hundreds of people in an excel spreadsheet with as much info on them as I could get. I’ve been stockpiling hollow points and have some custom made drones with some… ’neat’ features. Can’t wait for November. Gonna make a lot of people pay and I only accept Republican blood.”

The posts escalated from a political group to a specific person. Dyer wrote that “the only public execution I’d like to witness and actively participate in is (name of high-ranking public official)….I have a lot of hollow points with his name on if we ever get the chance to meet,” and separately posted: “I will head to the capitol tomorrow to assassinate (name of high-ranking public official).” The complaint quotes him adding that he had been “stockpiling guns, ammo, the precursors for synthesizing explosives, food, water, fuel,” and warning that “if they think they’ll be able so beg for mercy and surrender they got another thing coming to ’em….” The complaint charged Dyer with making interstate threats — the federal statute that reaches threatening communications posted online — an offense carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged, not convicted. Dyer faces a federal criminal complaint. U.S. Attorney Sullivan stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt, that charges are only allegations, and that a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The posts were the controversy; the arrest five days later was the consequence. On October 14, 2026 — six days after the last of the quoted posts — FBI agents arrested the 35-year-old Naugatuck man on the complaint. The speed of the response reflected the content’s specifics: named targets, a claimed local target list, claimed stockpiles of ammunition and explosive precursors, and a stated intent to travel to the capitol to assassinate a public official. At his appearance before Judge Vatti in Bridgeport, Dyer was released pending trial but confined: $100,000 bond, home confinement, electronic monitoring.

The single count — interstate threats — is capped at five years, a maximum that can look modest against the rhetoric the complaint quotes. Federal prosecutors reached for the statute that fits the evidence they have: the threat posts themselves. Whether the claims of stockpiled weapons, drones, and target spreadsheets produce additional charges, or evidence at trial, is not resolved by the charging document — it is alleged, not proven, and the complaint is not evidence of guilt.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Both announcing officials tied the case to principles larger than one defendant. “Threats of violence, whether tied to politics or any other motive, have no place on the internet or anywhere else in our society,” said U.S. Attorney Sullivan. “We will investigate these crimes quickly and prosecute those involved to deter this behavior, neutralize any threats, and ensure the safety of the public.” “There is no place in our democracy for politically motivated threats or acts of violence; public officials should never be targeted simply for the position they hold or for their party affiliation,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge O’Brien.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force with the assistance of the Naugatuck Police Department — a task force whose participants span HSI, IRS Criminal Investigation, NCIS, the State Department, CBP, the Marshals Service, USCIS, Connecticut State Police, and more than a dozen police departments including the NYPD. The release expressly frames the prosecution as being in support of National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence” — placing a Naugatuck man’s YouTube posts inside the federal government’s current domestic-terrorism enforcement framework. The case is prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine E. Boyles.

Current Status

Dyer, 35, is on pretrial release — a $100,000 bond, home confinement, and electronic monitoring — awaiting the progression of a federal case that is, at this stage, a single complaint and a presumption of innocence. No indictment had been returned and no trial date set as of the October 15, 2026 announcement. The conditions of his release mean that whatever the claims in his posts, his movements are now confined to his home under electronic watch — the “neutralize any threats” phase of the government’s response having been accomplished by bond conditions before any trial has begun. The maximum exposure on the charged offense is five years in federal prison.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Dyer’s online posting life is now evidence in a federal terrorism-adjacent prosecution, and his physical life is home confinement. The complaint preserved his own words — the spreadsheet, the hollow points, the “custom made drones,” the two public-execution threats against a named official — as the government’s core proof, meaning his defense must contend with quotations he authored himself. A conviction on interstate threats carries up to five years; an acquittal would leave him free but publicly documented as the man the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested over assassination posts. At 35, the five-day gap between his final quoted post and his arrest is the measure of how quickly the federal system now moves on politically motivated online threats — and his case joins a docket, under NSPM-7, that treats such posts as matters of national security rather than speech alone.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Connecticut, “Naugatuck Man Charged with Making Online Threats,” October 15, 2026 — source