Are private contractors federal 'official[s]' for purposes of criminal liability under 18 U.S.C. § 115?

QUESTION PRESENTED Section 1114 of Title 18 of the United States Code protects distinct groups of individuals from attempts to kill them “on account of” their role in federal activities: (1) “officer[s] or employee[s] of the United States” who are “engaged in .. . the performance of official duties,” and (2) “any person” who “assists” federal officers or employees in that performance (emphases added). The text of 18 U.S.C. § 115, in turn, expressly criminalizes threatening certain acts of violence against the “official[s]” who are covered by § 1114 (emphases added). Section 115 notably does not state that threatening “any person” assisting such official is also a crime. Petitioner Jacqueline Anderson threatened a Protective Security Officer (“PSO”)—a private guard contracted by the federal government to assist in protecting a local Social Security Office. It is undisputed that PSOs are not officers or employees of the United States. Nevertheless, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit affirmed Ms. Anderson’s conviction for violating § 115 by threatening a person who is not a federal official. The question presented is: Are private contractors federal “official[s]” for purposes of criminal liability under 18 U.S.C. § 115? (i)