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SALT LAKE CITY — A grand jury indicted a Cedar City man after he allegedly made threats against Veterans Affairs employees last month, leading one facility to close for multiple days.
Aaron David Kirschner, 48, was indicted Wednesday on one count of interstate transmission of threats to injure and two counts of cyberstalking.
Kirschner was first charged via complaint on March 28 with similar counts, but the new indictment includes alleged crimes that took place more recently. The timeline on the alleged actions that are the basis of the cyberstalking charges runs from March 24 to March 29, with the final day of that range being the same day Kirschner is accused of phoning in threats to a VA clinic in St. George that caused the clinic to temporarily close. Kirschner was arrested two days later in Iron County.
Kirschner told a person, only identified in documents as Person A, "I will make sure that you never have the opportunity to ignore another veteran ever again, ..." according to the new indictment. He also is accused of saying, "You will immediately have any pending police intervention canceled," and "Any deviation will result in your body count increasing."
The initial complaint alleges that Kirschner made threats against the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Between March 24 and 27, Kirschner allegedly made 609 calls to the hospital, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Salt Lake City Health Care System. The system includes the clinic in St. George.
Kirschner tried to intimidate or harass five employees via phone calls and emails, according to the initial charging documents, which also say employees identified Kirschner by his voice and from previous interactions, and witnesses reported suffering "substantial emotional distress" due to the calls. The court filings allege that Kirschner made "threats, insults and repeated calls, and caused one witness to be in fear of her life."
In one phone call, Kirschner said, "Tell (a staff member identified by name) she is a dead woman," the charges state.
Local and federal law enforcement arrested Kirschner on March 30, just a day after threats caused the St. George clinic to close. The clinic reopened the next day.
Kirschner made his initial appearance in Utah's federal court Wednesday. Federal prosecutors requested he be held in pretrial detention. As of Thursday, he was being held in jail. A federal judge ordered he be held in custody until at least Monday when he is set to make another court appearance for an arraignment hearing and a review of his detention status.
