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Pa. ‘survivalist’ who threatened to kill Trump spotted in Maryland, authorities say

Shawn Christy said he would "put a bullet" in the head of President Trump and a district attorney in Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Federal authorities say Shawn Christy threatened to kill President Trump and Northampton District Attorney John Morganelli on Facebook earlier this year.
Federal authorities say Shawn Christy threatened to kill President Trump and Northampton District Attorney John Morganelli on Facebook earlier this year.Read moreYouTube

A Pennsylvania man wanted for threatening to kill President Trump and Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli was spotted in Maryland on Sunday, authorities said.

Shawn Christy, 27, a self-described survivalist from McAdoo, a small town in Schuylkill County, was seen sleeping in a car in Cumberland, Md., more than 200 miles southwest of McAdoo. He fled after authorities there received a call about a suspicious person in a vehicle, investigators said.

Authorities say Christy may have stolen a separate vehicle — a 1997 GMC Sierra pickup truck with Pennsylvania license plate ZGL-2845 — upon fleeing.

The reason federal authorities are trying to track down Christy is a June 12 Facebook post: "Keep it up Morganelli, I promise I'll put a bullet in your head as soon as I put one in the head of Donald J. Trump. Remember where you came from punk."

>> READ MORE: This Pa. 'survivalist' threatened to kill Trump. Now there's a $20K reward for his arrest.

That posting has made Christy the subject of a massive manhunt, and prompted authorities to offer a $20,000 reward for a tip that results in his arrest.

Court records show that Christy was charged with making terroristic threats in March 2017 after threatening to kill a tax clerk in Bangor, in Northampton County north of Allentown, and blow up the building where she worked; he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 months of probation. That same spring, he was charged with aggravated assault for allegedly swinging a four-foot-long stick at Stephan Holly, McAdoo's mayor.

In 2010, an Alaskan judge granted former Gov. Sarah Palin a restraining order against Christy, who reportedly admitted to threatening to rape the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, and flooding her office with emails and messages. Christy and his father were later arrested by the FBI for harassing Palin's attorney, who worked in Allentown.

The U.S. Marshals Service on Saturday announced the reward for information that leads to the arrest of Christy, who also allegedly stole three handguns from an uncle in Luzerne County earlier this summer.

Anyone with information on Christy can call 911 or the U.S. Marshals at 1-877-Wanted-2 (1-877-926-8332).