WASHINGTON (AFP) – A United States (US) man posting content online has been charged with threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump and other government officials, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Shawn Monper, 32, was detained and charged in a federal criminal complaint with “making threats to assault and murder” Trump and other US officials, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
In a statement, the DOJ said the FBI received an emergency message about threats posted on YouTube, whose Internet activity was determined to correspond with Monper’s residence.
Monper is coincidentally from Butler, Pennsylvania where Trump was nearly assassinated during a campaign rally in July.
Shortly after Trump’s inauguration in January, Monper obtained a firearms permit and commented from his account that he had “bought several guns and been stocking up on ammo since Trump got in office”, the DOJ said.
On February 17 he wrote, “Nah, we just need to start killing people, Trump, Elon, all the heads of agencies Trump appointed, and anyone who stands in the way,” referring to Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk.
“Remember, we are the majority, MAGA is a minority of the country, and by the time its time to make the move, they will be weakened, many will be crushed by these policies, and they will want revenge too. American Revolution 2.0,” he said, according to the DOJ.
Then on March 4, in a YouTube video titled Live: Trump’s address to Congress, Monper said he was “going to assassinate him myself”, the DOJ added.
Monper hails from Butler township, scene of a shooting last July 13 that nearly took Trump’s life, when a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed the Republican’s ear at an outdoor campaign rally. One person was killed and three were injured.
A detention hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
