A suburban Philadelphia man who said he was stressed over losing his family, the coronavirus shutdown and the “theft of the election” acknowledged firing three shots into a local Democratic Party office on Inauguration Day, prosecutors said.
FBI agents linked the Jan. 20 shooting to suspect Anthony F. Nero, 48, of Eagleville, through a threatening email sent to the Montgomery County Democratic Party on Jan. 7, a day after the riot at the U.S. Capitol. The email warned that the group should “probably beef up security” and referenced then President Donald Trump and the false claim that the election had been stolen.
A party official notified police of the threat the following day. The official called police again hours after President Joe Biden's inauguration, to say he had stopped at the office in Norristown and found the front window shattered. Police found two of the three projectiles inside a desk nearby. They said they traced the email to Nero, and found a loaded gun in his vehicle. Nero admitted sending the email and firing the shots after midnight, according to Montgomery County prosecutors.
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Nero was being held Friday on $50,000 bail. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.
