A 42-year-old Lebanon man, accused of making violent social media threats against 20 Democratic state legislators plus local police, faces trial after waiving his preliminary hearing.
Adam Berryhill appeared before a magisterial district judge Thursday morning, May 14, and agreed to have his case sent to Lebanon County Common Pleas Court, where he faces trial later this year on a misdemeanor charge of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in state prison.
According to documents filed in court, a state trooper assigned to protect Pennsylvania House of Representatives Speaker Joanna McClinton was alerted in late April to posts made on X, formerly Twitter, “involving the safety of McCLINTON and other Pennsylvania legislators.”
An April 22 X post made on the account “@Pennsylvanwb” with the screen name “Pennsylvania Militia” said “Oh, you like posting hit lists? Here’s mine bitches. Tim Briggs (D) Joanna McClinton (D) Morgan Cephas (D) Malcolm Kenyatta (D) All gun grabbing communists!”
State police say they “conducted further review of the account and identified additional threatening and concerning content.” The X account, opened in March, was traced to Berryhill.
Earlier posts on the account are alleged to have threatened additional Democratic lawmakers and shown a photo of “an unidentified individual holding a camouflage-patterned firearm equipped with a sling, optic, and suspected suppressor. The photograph shows only a white right hand holding the firearm.”
State police said other posts on the same X account refer to, among other plans, a “Memorial Day operation,” “Small unit tactics against the city police,” “ambushes,” “hit-and-run tactics,” and “force-multiplying weapons against poorly equipped opponents.”
Berryhill is also alleged to have posted that “My family is crazier than I am,” and state police noted in their affidavit of probable cause that Berryhill underwent an involuntary mental health commitment in 2019 that disqualified him from possessing firearms.
According to documents made public, a search of Berryhill’s house discovered no weapons, just one “green shemagh” and two “black ball caps.”
Berryhill was arrested on May 6 and remains in the Lebanon County Correctional Facility, so far unable to post $250,000 bail. He is represented by a Lebanon County public defender.
A trial date had not been set as of publication time.
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