An elderly man fatally shot by FBI agents this month pointed a weapon at workers in 2018, according to newly disclosed police records.
Craig Robertson, the man, confronted Google Fiber workers in the backyard of his Provo, Utah, home, according to the Provo Police Department documents reviewed by The Epoch Times.
The male employees had gone into Mr. Robertson’s backyard to work, according to an incident report. Mr. Robertson “came out the back door holding a handgun and yelled at them to leave, which they did,” the report stated.
The workers told officers that they were in the area to connect a neighbor of Mr. Robertson to Google Fiber but that the neighbor was not home. They knocked on Mr. Robertson’s door and rang the doorbell to let him know they would be using a public easement to access a utility pole to complete the connection but no one answered.
The workers proceeded into the backyard and were preparing to work when Mr. Robertson confronted them.
“While Robertson was yelling at them, he was waving his gun around causing the muzzle to point in their direction,” the officer said in the report.
Officers went to Mr. Robertson’s home to seek his side of the story.
Mr. Robertson answered the door with an AR-15 slung over his shoulder, according to the report, and told officers not to enter his home.
Mr. Robertson was advised to put the weapon down and ultimately complied. Mr. Robertson said he heard the doorbell but could not reach the door because he was doing laundry and not wearing enough clothing. He went upstairs to get dressed and when he was heading back downstairs, he heard his side gate being opened.
Mr. Robertson said the workers left the gate open, which could have resulted in his dog escaping.
Mr. Robertson saw the workers’ white truck but did not see any logos so went into his backyard to confront them, believing they were trespassing. Mr. Robertson acknowledged carrying a gun but said he did not wave it around or threaten the men with it.
“While I was speaking with Robertson while he had his rifle, I observed that he was holding it in a ready position against his body with his finger on the trigger guard which led me to believe he had trained with firearms and was aware of where his muzzle was and how to control the weapon while moving,” the officer wrote.
Officers spoke with the local prosecutor, who was cited as saying that Mr. Robertson may not have exercised good judgement but that he was acting within his constitutional rights.
The officer then stood by while the workers finished their job.
The Provo Police Department declined to comment.
Mr. Robertson’s family did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Robertson did not have a criminal history beyond pleading no contest to a disorderly conduct charge in 1998, according to court records. The 2018 incident was not part of the history because he was not charged.
Mr. Robertson was the subject of search and arrest warrants issued this month, leading to an FBI-led operation to serve the warrants on Aug. 9.
Mr. Robertson was shot dead during the operation.
The FBI said it is investigating the “agent-involved shooting.”
The agency has declined to provide evidence supporting the claim.
The warrants were approved after the FBI found Mr. Robertson made multiple posts on social media platforms threatening President Joe Biden and other officials, including New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Mr. Robertson wrote in one Facebook post that he heard President Biden was traveling to Utah and that he would be “cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle, according to the court documents. He wrote in another post, reviewed by The Epoch Times before his profile was removed, that he dreamed of seeing President Biden’s body with the head severed, adding, ”Hoorah!!!“ A third post stated, Mr. Robertson ”The time is right for a presidential assassination or two.”
Mr. Robertson’s family has not denied that Mr. Robertson made threats but said that he would not be violent.
“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,” the family said previously.
Neighbors said that Mr. Robertson, 75, was elderly and frail and had difficulty moving around.
They also said he owned approximately 20 guns, which was described as normal for the area.
Mr. Robertson’s frequent social media activity included posting his support of former President Donald Trump, a number of pictures of his firearms—including a sniper rifle—and images of himself in camouflage and carrying a gun. In one post, Mr. Robertson called one of his guns a “Merrick Garland eradication tool,” referring to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Mr. Robertson also threatened New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
FBI agents visited Mr. Robertson’s home earlier this year, approaching him outside the residence, according to an affidavit written by one of the agents.
Mr. Robertson acknowledged that he was the owner of an account on one of the platforms that had posted some of the threats but noted he qualified them by saying he had dreamt of them.
“I said it was a dream!” Mr. Robertson was quoted as saying. “We’re done here! Don’t return without a warrant!”
Mr. Robertson later wrote that the agents had “no idea” how close they had been “to ‘bang.’” In another post, he said, “My 45ACP was ready to smoke ‘em!!!”
