Attorney General Pam Bondi targeted in murder-for-hire plot: Prosecutors

Meanwhile, Bovino's boss, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, has been targeted in a murder-for-hire plot originating in the Midwest. NBC Chicago investigative reporter Chuck Gowdy has been looking into that and is joining us with late details today on that plot. Chuck? Alex Marion, an FBI source alerted federal law enforcement in Detroit that a TikTok post was soliciting the murder of Attorney General Pam Bondi, asking for her dead or alive, preferably dead, it said, and promising a $45,000 reward for the hit. This afternoon, a 29-year-old man from St. Paul, Minnesota, charged with the plot to solicit Bondi's murder. Bondi has been the subject of numerous threats, but the one in question, which NBC is not showing because of its inflammatory nature, had a red target on her forehead. According to this federal court affidavit, a sniper scope red dot on her forehead. The accused plotter, 29-year-old Tyler Avalos, published the threat allegedly on TikTok saying he wanted Bondi dead or alive, but preferably dead. The investigation pointing to Avalos began October 9th when a tipster from Detroit submitted a report to the FBI National Threat Operations Center flagging the suspect's TikTok feed, according to the FBI. Federal agents have said that TikTok, Google and Comcast all helped the FBI trace the suspect. Avalos was charged with allegedly creating an online post containing a threat to injure, according to the criminal complaint. After the Bondi threat case resulted in an arrest, Avalos appeared in court last Wednesday in Minnesota, waiving his right to a preliminary hearing. A judge released him on a signature bond, but ordered him to wear a GPS monitor. Federal agents now say the suspect, Tyler Avalos, identifies as an anarchist and that his social media profile is branded with a known symbol for anarchy. Avalos also has a criminal history, including arrest for assault by strangulation, a stalking case and domestic battery. Attorneys for Avalos and Bondi's office all declining comment to NBC News.