A polarizing political activist has revealed on social media that the FBI visited him at his New Hampshire home after he posted a message saying, “Anyone who kills Kamala Harris would be an American hero.”
Jeremy Kauffman, 40, posted the now-deleted message to the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH) X account at 3 a.m. Sunday.
Added follow-up posts: ‘The purpose of the Second Amendment is to shoot and kill tyrannical politicians’ and ‘Encouraging politicians to be shot is legal under the First Amendment. It’s part of what makes this country great.’
All messages have now been deleted.
Kauffman then posted a video to his personal X account showing FBI agents visiting his home.
Scroll down for the video:
A political activist has revealed on social media how the FBI visited him at his New Hampshire home
Jeremy Kauffman, 40, posted the message on the X page of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH)
The FBI came to my house today for free speech violations that they knew were not crimes.
You can see the shame on their faces.
This is the manifesto of the Democratic regime. photo.twitter.com/RldC0JWMsx
— Jeremy Kauffman
(@jeremykauffman) September 16, 2024
(@jeremykauffman) 
“I am Agent O’Donnell of the FBI,” one of the plainclothes officers is heard saying after being asked to identify himself.
“Is that enough identification? There’s only one Agent O’Donnell in the FBI?” Kauffman replies.
“In New Hampshire, yes,” the officer replies.
“Your full name, sir?” Kauffman asks again.
“Can you please stop recording?” the officer asks.
“No,” Kauffman replies, before reminding the men of his “First Amendment right.”
“What’s your name, sir?” he asks the other officer.
“Can you stop recording?” the second officer asks, ignoring Kauffman’s request.
“Absolutely not,” the activist retorts. “I’m going back inside.”
At one point, Kauffman asks the officers about their salaries, accusing them of “burning a couple hundred dollars an hour just being here.”
At one point, the officer who identifies himself as O’Donnell tells Kauffman, “I just want to talk to you about a message that was made, and whether or not you happen to be the one who made it.”
Kauffman responds by asking them more about the reason for their visit and their salaries, accusing them of “burning a couple hundred dollars an hour just being here.”
Eventually the officers leave.
Kauffman, known for his libertarian views and outspoken criticism of the U.S. government, wrote in the caption: “The FBI came to my house today for free speech-related actions that they knew were not crimes.
You can see the shame on their faces.
This is the manifesto of the Democratic regime.
Kauffman, known for his libertarian views and outspoken criticism of the US government, has taken responsibility for the now-deleted post
He posted the footage on Monday, and it has since been viewed more than 18 million times
The post about his “American hero” for which he took credit was met with outrage just hours before the confrontation, with politicians from both sides of the political spectrum and observers condemning the post.
A Secret Service spokesperson said in an email that the agency “is aware of the social media post from the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire” and that “the Secret Service investigates all threats against our protégés.”
The New Hampshire Department of Public Safety, which includes the state police, and the New Hampshire attorney general’s office also said their respective agencies are working with federal officials to investigate the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire’s posts.
The party removed the original post from its account on Sunday morning, saying in a statement that it did so reluctantly.
“It’s a disgrace that even on a website where ‘freedom of speech’ is the norm, liberals cannot speak freely,” read a post on the account, which referenced X’s terms of service.
“Libertarians are truly the most oppressed minority.”
Leaders including Republican Party Chairman Chris Ager also criticized the post, with the New Hampshire politician writing, “There is no room for this kind of dialogue. Period.”
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley called the report “disgusting, dangerous and wrong.”
The party removed the original post from its account on Sunday morning, while simultaneously issuing a statement saying it had done so only reluctantly.
Kauffman is the co-founder and CEO of LBRY, a blockchain file-sharing system, and has also advocated for the Free State Project, a nonprofit focused on the idea of bringing liberals to New Hampshire and turning the state into a domestic stronghold.
In 2022, he made an unsuccessful bid for the New Hampshire Senate as a Libertarian. In an interview that year with New Hampshire Public Radio, he said he wants a government with “less democracy.”
“I don’t want these people in California and New York voting on my life in New Hampshire. And I’m an avowed Free Stater,” he told the interviewer.
I believe [New Hampshire is] “The most libertarian place in the country,” he added.
“And I want to be able to live with people who share my values. And it’s okay if we disagree, but you know, people have to be able to live.”
In 2018, he joined the nonprofit’s board of directors. Last September, he was removed for racially insensitive online posts.
The deleted tweet followed a second failed assassination of Donald Trump at his Florida golf course, in which a suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, was arrested
In 2021, he took over the LPNH X account, which added in its statement on Monday: “We would never advocate for the assassination of a tyrannical president. That is illegal.
“We just wanted to indicate how some members might react to this.”
The incident followed the second failed attempt to draw attention to Donald Trump at his Palm Springs golf course, in which a suspect, identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, was arrested.