‘That’s not the man I knew’: Neighbors describe Provo suspect killed by FBI

PROVO, Utah — Neighbors of a man who was shot and killed by FBI agents in Provo on Wednesday morning are providing context about who he was and the deadly turn of events that occurred.

FBI agents were serving a search warrant on the home of 75-year-old Craig Deleeuw Robertson in the area of 500 North and 1200 West after he made threats toward President Joe Biden, an FBI spokeswoman said.

Robertson was shot and killed.

FBI shoots and kills Provo man accused of threatening President Biden’s life

Travis Clark, a next-door neighbor to the suspect, said he was confused at how things escalated so quickly. He said he attended church with the suspect for years and had been in his house, but admitted he didn’t know about all of Robertson’s social media posts until later.

“As near as I can tell, you know, he shot his mouth off on Facebook and that brought him to people’s attention and this happened,” Clark said.

According to court documents obtained by KSL TV, Robertson made Facebook posts threatening the life of President Biden.

“I was not friends with him on social media, Clark said. “I knew him just through church and they’re pretty out there, but that’s not the man I knew.”

Witnesses said the shooting happened so quickly in the quiet of the morning.

Nyla Rollins said she knew “he was anti-government” and heard the commotion, so she came outside to her backyard to find a SWAT team moving in on her neighbor’s home.

“And their guns were drawn and they were going through the outhouses,” Rollins said.

Then there was a confrontation.

“They called for my neighbor to come out and he’s like, ‘I’m not coming out,'” Rollins said.

Then came the gunfire.

“I found out later from my next-door neighbor that my neighbor here had died,” she said. “They saw him dead in the driveway.”

She said neighbors are still processing what happened.

“I kind of feel like everybody’s in shock,” Rollins said.

Rollins recalled Robertson was frustrated by the government at many levels.

“He did not like it if Provo City had to do something in his yard,” she said. “He was totally against that.”

Clark said his wife told him the news.

“My wife just walked in and said, ‘Craig Robertson is dead’ and I just couldn’t believe it,” Clark said. Now the neighborhood is coming to terms with the deadly chain of events.

“He was a loveable teddy bear kind of a guy,” Clark said.

“I think the neighborhood’s just kind of feeling a little melancholy,” Rollins said. They’re left to question who really was the man who lived here.

“It just goes to show,” Rollins said, “you never know who your neighbors are.”