A man in Portland is recovering from gunshot wounds after being found bleeding in a parking lot on December 21.
The shooter – a violent Antifa extremist armed with an AR-15 and multiple handguns – had been on law enforcement's radar for months before he allegedly pulled the trigger.
Rep. Nancy Mace reported him to federal prosecutors last May with evidence so clear she called it "unmistakable," but they refused to press charges – and now she's demanding to know why someone had to take a bullet before the system finally acted.
Federal Prosecutors Ignored Death Threat Against Congresswoman
Michael Richard Fadich goes by "Rem Heathen" online.
In May 2025, he posted a graphic on Instagram showing a gun pointed directly at Rep. Mace's face – her official congressional portrait with a first-person shooter view aimed at her head.
Mace's office sent the evidence to federal authorities immediately.
"The message was unmistakable: he wanted me dead," Mace said.
Federal prosecutors looked at the graphic and declined to press charges.
No arrest, no investigation, no consequences.
Threatening a member of Congress carries up to five years in federal prison, but prosecutors decided this armed Antifa extremist posting assassination imagery wasn't worth their time.
Eight months later, Portland police found a man with gunshot wounds behind an apartment complex.
Officers seized an AR-15 rifle and multiple handguns.
The victim barely survived emergency surgery.
When detectives interviewed witnesses, one name kept surfacing: Rem Heathen.
Antifa Arrests Pattern: Warning Signs Prosecutors Refused To See
Fadich's social media accounts were a terrorist manifesto in real time.
Antifa propaganda, celebrations of political violence, explicit threats against elected officials – all publicly posted.
He posed with Antifa flags and bragged about his firearms.
He wasn't hiding what he was.
Portland has been Antifa's testing ground for years – the Trump administration documented cement attacks on federal officers, burning police vehicles, and battering ram assaults against ICE facilities.
Fadich was textbook: radical ideology, violent rhetoric, weapons access, specific threats against a federal official.
Every warning sign was flashing red.
"Every warning sign was there," Mace said. "Nothing was done."
Federal prosecutors had the Instagram post, the weapon photos, the violent history, the Antifa affiliation.
They chose to do nothing.
Threats Against Congress: The Pattern That Keeps Repeating
Threats against members of Congress have more than doubled since 2017.
Capitol Police investigated over 9,400 concerning statements and direct threats in 2024 alone.
But prosecutions don't match the threat level – clear federal violations get ignored until someone ends up in the hospital.
The problem isn't the laws.
The problem is prosecutors who look at graphic death threats and shrug until blood gets spilled.
A Portland shooting victim spent weeks recovering because federal prosecutors looked at Fadich's Instagram post and decided it wasn't worth their time.
They had eight months.
They had the evidence, the federal statute, the clear threat.
A man took bullets because prosecutors chose not to act.
Attempted Murder Charges: The Price Of Prosecutorial Cowardice
A Multnomah County grand jury indicted Fadich on attempted murder, assault, unlawful use of a weapon, and coercion.
He fled to California after the shooting but was arrested January 8 at a Mount Shasta gas station.
He now sits in Multnomah County jail – classified as female despite being a biological male – awaiting trial for attempted murder.
The charges he faces now are infinitely more serious than what he would've faced if prosecutors had acted in May.
Instead of a federal threats charge with maybe two years, he's looking at attempted murder with decades in prison.
More importantly, a man in Portland wouldn't have spent Christmas in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds.
"This blood is on the hands of every prosecutor who looked at this threat and looked away," Mace said.
"To every prosecutor who declined to act after we reported this man: you had the chance to stop him, and you didn't," Mace said. "And someone took a bullet for it."
She added a warning about the jail classification: "I pray for the safety of the women he's housed with."
Mace is demanding the Department of Justice and FBI investigate why federal prosecutors failed to act and whether Fadich should face federal charges for threatening a member of Congress – charges that should've been filed eight months ago.
Domestic Terrorism Designation Came Too Late For Victim
The Trump administration designated targeting of public officials as domestic terrorism in Attorney General Pam Bondi's December directive, making prosecution of these threats a national priority.
But that focus came too late for Fadich's victim.
The directive came after he'd already allegedly shot someone.
"When prosecutors do their job, lives are saved," Mace said, citing another case where a suspect who threatened her remains jailed. "But when they fail, like with Fadich, innocent people pay the price."
The system had every tool needed to stop Michael Fadich before he allegedly put a man in the hospital with gunshot wounds.
Federal prosecutors chose not to use them.
Now a congresswoman is demanding answers and a Portland shooting victim is asking why he had to take bullets before anyone took the threat seriously.
Sources:
- Stepheny Price, "'tr*nsgender ANTIFA' extremist charged with attempted murder after skating on death threat, Rep Mace says," Fox News, January 29, 2026.
- Nancy Mace, "Antifa Extremist Who Threatened To Kill Congresswoman Mace Now Charged With Attempted Murder," U.S. House of Representatives, January 28, 2026.
- Portland Police Bureau, "Suspect Arrested in California, Facing Attempted Murder Charges for December Shooting," Portland.gov, January 15, 2026.
- Arnold & Porter, "DOJ Issues Sweeping New Domestic Terrorism Directive," Enforcement Edge, December 5, 2025.
- The Hill, "Threats against public officials persist in year after Trump assassination attempt," July 13, 2025.