Man accused of planning assassination on Biden before presidential debate against Trump

ATLANTA (WBRC/Gray News) - A 23-year-old Alabama man has been charged with interstate stalking after federal agents said he traveled to Atlanta with a revolver and planned to assassinate then-President Joe Biden during a June 2024 debate.

Adam Benjamin Hall, of Crane Hill, was charged Tuesday in federal court, according to an affidavit filed by U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Nathan Beal.

The charges stem from Hall’s alleged actions on June 27, 2024, when he drove from Alabama to Atlanta carrying a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver.

College threats led to investigation

The investigation began in October 2025 when Hall allegedly told fellow students at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville about his plans to kill Biden. According to the affidavit, Hall said he “drove over to Atlanta” with a revolver containing two rounds, which he thought would be enough to kill the president.

Hall told students he was “a pretty decent shot and Joe Biden was or is like one foot and four toes in the grave already,” the affidavit states.

He added that if he hit a major artery, it would make “a squishing noise” for Biden.

Wallace State police reported Hall’s statements to federal authorities on Oct. 24, 2025. Secret Service agents interviewed Hall’s parents the following day at their Alabama residence.

Parents confiscated weapon

Hall’s parents told agents they learned about their son’s travel to the debate and plan to shoot Biden approximately one month after the fact. The parents said they confiscated the weapon, a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, and placed it in the father’s personal safe. The mother provided photographs of the weapon to the Secret Service.

During a Secret Service interview on Oct. 25, 2025, Hall said images he saw online upset him and made him feel he needed to take action. He said he learned about the planned presidential debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta and bought the revolver in cash shortly before the debate.

Manifesto found on phone

Federal agents analyzed Hall’s cellphone after obtaining his written consent on Nov. 6, 2025. The forensic analysis revealed a self-described “exposé,” or “manifesto,” typed in Apple Notes and saved as screenshots.

The manifesto, addressed to “Palestinian journalists,” contained anti-government rhetoric and calls for violence. Hall wrote about abandoning both Biden and Trump in the next election and called for overthrowing what he termed “bastards.” The document included instructions for armed marches on Capitol Hill, the White House and the Supreme Court.

The manifesto was modified on June 27, 2024, at approximately 7:46 p.m., about an hour and 14 minutes before the scheduled start time of the debate.

Phone evidence shows location

Forensic analysis showed Hall took a screenshot at 8:32 p.m. on June 27, 2024, approximately 28 minutes before the debate started, and around three blocks from the debate site at CNN Midtown in Atlanta.

Hall told agents he drove from his Alabama residence to Atlanta on the afternoon of June 27, 2024, with the revolver. He said he mistakenly went to the former CNN Center in downtown Atlanta, parked on top of a parking garage and walked around scouting the area for several hours before realizing his mistake.

After watching videos of the debate on his cellphone and realizing the debate was over, Hall checked into a hotel in another part of Atlanta for the night before returning to Alabama the next day.

Former girlfriend contacted him

On Nov. 12, 2025, a Secret Service agent interviewed Hall’s former girlfriend by telephone. She said Hall called her on the night of the Trump-Biden debate sounding “pretty frantic.”

During the call, Hall told her he had purchased a gun and was in Atlanta planning to sneak into the presidential debate. The former girlfriend said she could hear crowd noise in the background and that Hall expressed being “fed up with the way things were in the world.”

The former girlfriend said she tried to convince Hall not to act or harm himself. Hall eventually told her he was tired and there were too many police officers around, so he would get a hotel for the night. He called her the following day and said he planned to go to the next presidential debate instead.

Federal agents concluded there is probable cause to believe Hall violated federal interstate stalking laws on or about June 27, 2024.