A Cambridge man allegedly sent a threatening e-mail to the girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel and is now facing federal charges, records show.
Alden W. Ruml was arrested by FBI agents after they allegedly linked him to a Feb. 28 message sent to country singer Alexis Wilkins using an anonymized e-mail from an Apple iCloud account, records show.
The email was sent to an address on Wilkins’s social media page while she was in Arizona, the singer told FBI agents. She was interviewed by the FBI on March 2, according to an FBI affidavit.
“Alexis Wilkins (“Person 1”) is the girlfriend of Kash Patel (“Federal Official”),” FBI Special Agent Keith A. Leavitt Jr. wrote in the affidavit.
“Person 1 indicated that they received the threatening email while in Arizona,” Leavitt wrote. “Person 1 indicated being frightened by the threatening email and changing their upcoming travel arrangements as a result.”
According to the affidavit, the 35-year-old Ruml allegedly wrote “Watch your back” and other threatening statements.
According to the FBI affidavit, Ruml allegedly admitted that he authored the email after reading on Feb. 28, 2026, that Patel had assigned SWAT FBI agents to protect his girlfriend.
The news story referenced is not identified in court papers.
The New York Times reported Feb. 28 that Patel had assigned SWAT agents to guard Wilkins during her “singing appearances, personal engagements and errands.”
Former agents told the Times that Wilkins was receiving “unprecedented” level of protection.
Universal Hub and Reuters first reported on alleged threats and the charges.
Ruml appeared in US District Court in Boston on March 13, where he pleaded not guilty to a single count of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.
He was released on personal recognizance and ordered to attend mental health counseling while the prosecution is pending, court records show.
He is scheduled to return to court on April 14.
Ruml has hired Boston defense attorneys Daniel N. Marx and William W. Fick to represent him. The Globe has sent an e-mail requesting comment from his lawyers.
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe.
