Encino Man Indicted For Allegedly Threatening To Shoot Reporters

LOS ANGELES, CA — An Encino man who quoted President Donald Trump while allegedly threatening to shoot Boston Globe employees was indicted by a federal grand jury the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Robert D. Chain, 68, was indicted in Boston on seven counts of use of interstate and foreign commerce to transmit a threat to injury another person. He was arrested at his Encino home on Aug. 30 and is schedule to appear before a judge Monday in a Boston federal court.

According to prosecutors, Chain made a series of threats to the Globe after the newspaper asked newspapers from around the country to publish editorial responses to the Trump administration's attacks on the media in August. The coordinated editorial response was to be published six days later. Investigators allege Chain invoked Trump in calling reporters an "enemy of the people," when he called the newspaper and threatened to shoot to Boston Globe employees.

On Aug. 16, the day the editorial response was published in the Boston Globe, Chain allegedly called the Globe newsroom and threatened that he was going to shoot Globe employees in the head "later today, at 4 o'clock," according to the indictment. The threat prompted a massive police presence outside The Globe, and when officers arrested Chain at his Encino home, they found a trove of guns and ammunition.

The seven counts charged in the indictment relate to seven separate threatening phone calls that Chain allegedly made to the Globe newsroom. The charge of making threatening communications in interstate commerce provides for a sentence of no greater than five years, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

Chain made his initial appearance in Los Angeles federal court on Aug. 30. Despite prosecutors' objections, a magistrate judge declined to keep Chain in custody, instead setting bond at $50,000. The judge ordered Chain to surrender his passport and to stay at least 500 feet away from the Boston Globe offices.

A Los Angeles prosecutor told the court that 20 firearms were found hidden throughout Chain's home, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Arguing that Chain should be kept in custody, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Rosenbaum said the threats to the Boston Globe staff were "graphic" and "very specific."

"He threatened to kill members of the press," Rosenbaum told the court, adding that there is "clear and convincing evidence he is a danger to the community."

U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul L. Abrams disagreed and set bond, ordering that Chain submit to a mental health evaluation, not possess any firearms and avoid contact with any known victim in the case.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report. Photo: Youtube screengrab