He Typed Death Threats Into YouTube. A Grand Jury Indicted Him.
A Pennsylvania man who called himself a Nazi posted threats to kill a member of Congress, transgender people and Muslims in the comment sections under YouTube videos, federal prosecutors say. A grand jury in Pittsburgh indicted him on 12 counts on July 10, 2026.
A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh returned a 12-count indictment on July 10, 2026, against Robert Hlovchiec, 32, of Shaler Township, Pennsylvania, charging him with threatening to kill a member of Congress and threatening violence against minority groups in comments he posted on YouTube, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation, prosecutors said.
Between February and March 2026, Hlovchiec posted comments on YouTube videos in which he threatened a member of Congress — identified in the indictment only as “Victim 1” — along with Democrats and liberals, transgender people and various minority groups, and repeatedly referred to himself as a Nazi and a white supremacist, according to CBS News. The charges are allegations, and Hlovchiec is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
What the indictment describes
The document charges six counts of interstate threats and six counts of influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official by threat, the Justice Department said. In the comments, prosecutors say, he described acts of violence he wished to carry out, including mass shootings, assassinations and running people over with his truck.
The indictment quotes the posts directly. In one, according to CBS News, he wrote that he would “put a bullet in any democrats head especially democrat politician,” and in another that he would “shoot” the member of Congress “if I get close enough.” Prosecutors say his comments also threatened Muslims and transgender people and vowed a mass shooting, and that he identified himself as a Nazi and a white supremacist, according to the Justice Department.
Threats typed into a comment box
What distinguishes the case is the medium. The threats were not sent by letter or left on a voicemail but typed into the public comment sections beneath online videos, where prosecutors say they were preserved and traced back to their author. Each count of interstate threats carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and each count involving a federal official carries up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Officials did not release the name of the targeted lawmaker, identifying the person only as “Victim 1,” according to CBS News. The case was assigned to federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh, and the FBI's investigation led to the indictment, the Justice Department said.
A record year for threats against Congress
The indictment lands amid a documented surge in threats against U.S. lawmakers. The U.S. Capitol Police investigated 14,938 concerning statements, communications and behaviors directed at members of Congress, their families and staff in 2025, the third consecutive annual increase, the force reported. That figure was up nearly 58 percent from the 9,474 cases it examined in 2024, NBC News reported.
Threats reach lawmakers through mail, email, telephone and social media, and the Capitol Police have pointed to “a false sense of anonymity online” as a factor in the rise, according to its assessment. The Pennsylvania case is one of the comparatively few that reach a grand jury: prosecutors and investigators must first tie an anonymous or semi-anonymous account to a real person before a charge can follow.