Pennsylvania man indicted over YouTube threats to lawmaker, minority groups

A Shaler Township man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on 12 counts stemming from alleged violent threats posted to YouTube, U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti announced.

Robert Hlovchiec, 32, is the sole defendant named in the indictment, which charges him with interstate threats and with influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official by threat, prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, Hlovchiec posted comments to YouTube videos between February and March 2026 threatening violence against a member of Congress, identified only as “Victim 1,” along with Democrats and liberals, transgender people and various minority groups, prosecutors said. At times, he identified himself as a Nazi and a white supremacist and described wanting to carry out mass shootings, assassinations and running people over with his truck, according to the indictment.

Among the threats cited in the indictment, Hlovchiec allegedly wrote that he would carry out a mass shooting wherever the lawmaker was standing, declaring that the lawmaker “needs to die” and warning that America was not for sale or a Muslim country. In other posts, he allegedly threatened to shoot everyone in the lawmaker’s family, described America as a “white Christian nation,” and said he would “put a bullet” in the lawmaker’s head, writing that the lawmaker “isn’t American.” Additional posts cited in the indictment include threats to shoot the lawmaker if he got close enough, and a threat to “put a bullet” in the head of any Democrats, especially Democratic politicians and the lawmaker.

The indictment includes six counts of interstate threats, each carrying a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, prosecutors said. It also includes six counts of influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official by threat while the official was engaged in, and on account of, the performance of official duties, each carrying a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to prosecutors. Any actual sentence would be determined under the federal sentencing guidelines based on the seriousness of the offenses and the defendant’s prior criminal history, if any, prosecutors said.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brendan J. McKenna and Alyssa R. Angotti are prosecuting the case, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The FBI conducted the investigation that led to the indictment, prosecutors said.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and Hlovchiec is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.