The Secret Service is investigating after a Florida man was arrested in West Palm Seaside and charged with calling for the assassination of President Donald Trump on Fb.
Shannon Depararro Atkins, 46, of West Palm Seaside, was arrested after allegedly threatening the lifetime of the president, West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo confirmed throughout a press convention Saturday.
Atkins is charged with felony intimidation, drug possession and smuggling contraband in a county detention heart, in keeping with jail data.
Shannon Depararro Atkins, 46, was arrested after allegedly threatening the lifetime of President Donald Trump. (Palm Seaside County Sheriff’s Workplace)
A tip was referred to as in to the FBI National Threat Operations Center late Sunday, reporting Atkins was making violent threats towards the president on Fb.
A Palm Seaside detective started working the case Monday and located “disturbing” posts, in keeping with Araujo.
A few of the posts included, “Lincoln, JFK, Reagan, Martin Luther King and Trump – sadly, one continues to be alive”; “Bullets, please. Jesus, save America”; and “I have been banned from X as a result of I mentioned ‘I hope and pray somebody kills him. We have not had an assassination in years.'”
President Donald Trump speaks in regards to the economic system throughout an occasion on the Circa Resort and On line casino in Las Vegas Saturday. (AP Photograph/Mark Schiefelbein)
The division secured a possible trigger warrant and commenced surveillance, arresting Atkins close to certainly one of his properties at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Officers discovered three luggage of cocaine in Atkins’ pocket on the time of the arrest, in keeping with Araujo.
Whereas being interviewed, he admitted to writing the Facebook posts however mentioned he was joking, authorities mentioned.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is rushed offstage after being shot throughout a rally July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Pictures)
“Of us, this isn’t a joke. Nothing of that kind is a joke,” Araujo mentioned in the course of the press convention.
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The Secret Service was notified and is reviewing the case to find out whether or not there shall be federal fees, the division mentioned.
“The U.S. Secret Service doesn’t touch upon issues involving protecting intelligence,” the company wrote in an e-mail to Fox Information Digital Saturday. “What we will say is that the Secret Service investigates all threats towards our protectees.”
Authorities confirmed the FBI was additionally concerned within the investigation.
Araujo mentioned, in right now’s local weather, individuals can’t make threats, even jokingly.
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“We have now incident after incident, instance after instance, of when these threats develop into actual, and we take these very significantly,” he mentioned. “Did we avert one thing? You by no means know. I do know that we developed possible trigger, we arrested Mr. Atkins and he will should reply the fees.”
Atkins’ bond was set at $5,000 for the drug fees, however bond was denied for the threats towards Trump, in keeping with jail data.
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