Florida man arrested for making assassination threats against US President Trump on Facebook
Trending World News | The FBI received a tip about Atkins' threatening posts, leading to his arrest near his West Palm Beach home, where he was found with cocaine.
Police in Florida, US have arrested a West Palm Beach resident for allegedly threatening to kill US President Donald Trump.
The Florida man, as per reports, has been identified as 46-year-old Shannon Depararro Atkins. He was arrested after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on February 19, a day before the Trump inauguration, received a tip about threatening posts by someone who lives in Okeechobee.
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'Unfortunately...still alive'
Atkins, as per CBS News' West Palm Beach affiliate WPEC, posted a series of posts on Facebook aimed toward Trump. In one post, he posted a combination of pictures featuring Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, and Donald Trump with the caption "Unfortunately, one is still alive."
A second post saw Atkins share a post that said "Jan 20th (Trump inauguration day) is the Day of Mourning for USA" along with the caption "Bullets, please. Jesus! Save America".
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In yet another post, the Florida man wrote: "I've been banned from X because I said I hope and pray someone kills him. We haven't had an assassination in years."
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Arrest and detention
Police, as per reports, arrested Atkins on Friday (Jan 24) at around 7:30 pm (local time) near his home in West Palm Beach.
The man was carrying cocaine at the time of his arrest, and later, during the subsequent interview, admitted to making threatening posts against Trump.
He was transported to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Main Detention Center for detention. He faces a second-degree felony of written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, along with possession of cocaine.
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Atkins has been ordered to have no contact with Trump or his family. Additionally, a court has ordered that Atkins have no access to weapons or the internet. Furthermore, the US Secret Service has been notified about Atkins' threats and is yet to decide if the Florida man will face any federal charges.
(With inputs from agencies)
