A South Carolina inmate has been indicted for a third time on charges related to threatening a sitting or former U.S. president, according to federal prosecutors.
Eric Rome Jr., 37, allegedly sent a letter from prison on Jan. 6 threatening Donald Trump. In the letter, which was reportedly sent to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in Chicago, Rome warned, “Enjoy having Trump in office while you can,” and stated, “we will kill him too,” according to the federal indictment.
Rome is currently incarcerated at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, where he is serving a sentence for armed robbery. If convicted on the new charge, he faces up to 10 additional years in federal prison.
History of Prior Threat Convictions
This is not Rome’s first indictment for threatening national leaders. He was indicted in 2015 for making threats against Barack Obama and again in 2022 for threatening Joe Biden.
According to prior indictments, Rome left voicemails in 2021 threatening Biden and then–Vice President Kamala Harris, stating his intent to carry out a sniper attack upon release from prison. In 2014, while incarcerated on state robbery charges, he allegedly called the South Carolina Department of Corrections and threatened to shoot Obama after his release.
Federal authorities noted that Rome signed his full name to the latest threatening letter.
Alleged Extremist Statements
In the Jan. 6 letter, prosecutors say Rome also threatened religious communities and claimed affiliation with white supremacist groups, including the Aryan Brotherhood of South Carolina and the Proud Boys. He allegedly wrote that he and others would “begin hunting” people and declared their “intent is war on the federal government and specifically the assassination of the feds.”
Rome is scheduled to begin serving previously imposed federal sentences for threatening Obama and Biden after completing his current armed robbery sentence, which runs through 2030.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
