Man sentenced after threatening 3 schools following Charlie Kirk backlash

A 19-year-old Advance man was sentenced in June to 10 months in prison for making threats of mass shootings against three universities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina announced last month.

Michael Zechariah Tedder appeared before Judge David A. Bragdon on June 9, 2026, and received the prison term along with three years of supervised release to follow, according to court documents.

Court documents state that Tedder called the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of North Texas and the University of Louisville on Sept. 12, 2025, and made specific threats of violence against each school. Tedder threatened to “slaughter” and “massacre” victims with a firearm and referenced watching them choke on their own blood, according to court documents.

Comments by counsel at Tedder’s sentencing hearing referenced his significant history of mental health issues, according to the announcement. Court documents state that Tedder made the threatening calls after seeing media and online reports about individuals disparaging Charlie Kirk following Kirk’s assassination.

Tedder pleaded guilty in March 2026 to communicating a threat in interstate commerce, a violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 875(c).

Dan Bishop, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, announced the sentencing and thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Davie County Sheriff’s Office for their response and investigation. The case was investigated by the FBI Charlotte Joint Terrorism Task Force’s Greensboro Resident Agency, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric L. Iverson prosecuted the case.