Family members of the man killed during an FBI operation this week are decrying what happened.
“We, the family of Craig Deeluew Robertson, are shocked and devastated by the senseless and tragic killing of our beloved father and brother, and we fervently mourn the loss of a good and decent man,” the family said in a statement after Mr. Robertson was fatally shot during the Aug. 9 operation in Provo, Utah.
FBI agents and other law enforcement officers were trying to serve arrest and search warrants at the home after reviewing social media posts in which Mr. Robertson, 74, threatened President Joe Biden and other politicians, according to court documents and officials.
Video footage from the scene showed heavily armed officers outside of Mr. Robertson’s home before dawn shouting at him to open the door.
Jon Michael Ossola, who recorded the video, told The Epoch Times that about 20 officers were present and that they told Mr. Robertson to exit the home.
Mr. Robertson, said, responded by saying “I haven’t broken any federal laws.”
After gunshots rang out, Mr. Robertson, a U.S. Air Force veteran, was taken outside and declared dead.
The video did not capture the shooting and Mr. Ossola said he could not see exactly what unfolded.
The FBI has described what happened as an “agent-involved shooting” that took place around 6:15 a.m. local time. The shooting is being reviewed by the bureau’s Inspection Division, according to a spokesperson, who declined to provide more details.
‘Kind and Generous Person’
Family members said Mr. Robertson “was a kind and generous person who was always willing to assist another in need, even when advanced age, limited mobility, and other physical challenges made it more difficult and painful for him to do so.”They said he often used his woodworking skills to craft items for children of friends and neighbors, was active in his church, and was a lover of animals, reading, and hunting.
“Craig loved this country with all his heart. He saw it as a God-inspired and God-blessed land of liberty. He was understandably frustrated and distraught by the present and on-going erosions to our constitutionally protected freedoms and the rights of free citizens wrought by what he, and many others in this nation, observed to be a corrupt and overreaching government,” the family said.
“As an elderly–and largely homebound–man, there was very little he could do but exercise his First Amendment right to free speech and voice his protest in what has become the public square of our age–the internet and social media. Though his statements were intemperate at times, he has never, and would never, commit any act of violence against another human being over a political or philosophical disagreement.”
Threatening Posts
On Facebook and other social media platforms, Mr. Robertson threatened President Biden and other officials, including New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg.Mr. Robertson wrote on Facebook on Tuesday night that he dreamed of seeing President Biden’s body with the head severed. “Hoorah!!!” Mr. Robertson wrote.
He had previously written in one post, “The time is right for a presidential assassination or two.” In another, he wrote, “Death to Joe Biden.”
After a trip to Salt Lake City for the president was announced, Mr. Robertson said he heard President Biden was traveling to Utah. “Digging out my old ghillie suit and cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle,” he said. A ghillie suit is camouflaged clothing.
“The salient point is that he was never actually going to hurt anyone,” family member Julie Robertson told the Associated Press. “He didn’t even leave his house on the day of the presidential visit.”
Mr. Robertson also wrote at one point that he was heading to New York to fulfill a dream of “[e]radicating” Mr. Bragg, a Democrat who is prosecuting former President Donald Trump.
Mr. Robertson was wearing a “Trump” hat when he was approached in March by FBI agents who had been surveilling him, according to court documents. Mr. Robertson admitted to a post threatening President Biden but was quoted as saying, “I said it was a dream!” He added, according to documents: “We’re done here! Don’t return without a warrant!”
Mr. Robertson later wrote: “Hey FBI, you still monitoring my social media? Checking so I can be sure to have a loaded gun handy in case you drop by again.”
Mr. Robertson’s online activity included posting pictures of guns, showing he had at least half a dozen different firearms. Neighbors said he owned around 20 guns, noting that number was not unusual for the area.
