Police in Florida have arrested a man who made threats of violence against the life of President Donald Trump on the Internet.
Shannon Depararro Atkins, 46, was arrested during a traffic stop on Friday in West Palm Beach, during which he allegedly was found to be carrying three baggies of cocaine in his pocket, the New York Post reported.
Police had him on their radar after receiving a tip about posts he made before the inauguration of the president on January 20.
America needs one good bullet to be saved,” he allegedly wrote on Facebook on Jan. 19 hours before he admitted that he was banned on X.
“I’ve been banned from ‘X’, because I said I hope and pray someone kills him,” he said. “History is supposed to repeat itself. We haven’t had an assassination in years.”
Later that same day he said “Bullets please. Please Jesus! Save America” in a meme that said inauguration day was a “day of mourning.”
On the day he was arrested, Atkins shared an image of the president with his late wife, Ivanka, where he allegedly wrote, “I hope they get back together soon.”
He admitted to police that he made the posts but claimed they were just his way of “joking.”
“That gives you a flavor of some of the posts that this gentleman posted,” West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo told reporters following Atkins’ arrest.
“Folks, this is not a joke. Nothing of that sort is a joke,” the police chief said of the posts.
“In today’s climate, you really can’t say things like this. We have incident after incident, example after example, of when these threats become real. And we take these very seriously,” he said.
“Atkins was being held at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Main Detention Center and faces a drug possession charge as well as one count of written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, a second-degree felony,” the Post’s report said.
It will be the prerogative of the Secret Service to determine whether or not he faces federal charges.
In August, during the presidential campaign, an Arizona man was arrested for threatening Trump.
The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ronald Lee Syvrud after conducting a manhunt in Arizona for the convicted sex offender who allegedly threatened to kill former President Donald Trump.
Syrvud is the subject of numerous outstanding warrants for his arrest, including those for a DUI in Wisconsin and a hit-and-run in Arizona, according to Sheriff Mark Dannels of the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, he was being pursued for neglecting to register as a sexual offender.
Syvrud was convicted of second-degree sexual assault of a minor on April 6, 2001, and was subsequently added to Wisconsin’s sex offender registry. He is listed as having a lifetime registration and a variety of aliases.
“Public Safety consideration: Syvrud is being sought as an investigative lead for threats to kill a presidential candidate,” Dannels wrote. According to the New York Post, the presidential candidate in question is Donald Trump.
“There’s a manhunt going on in this county… Somebody made death threats to you,” a reporter asked as Trump held a press conference in Cochise County near the border. “Did you hear about that before coming? What are your thoughts about coming down here? Some people told me it’s dangerous for you to be here.”
After telling the reporter he had not been informed about the threat beforehand, he said: “I’ve heard it’s dangerous, but I also have a job to do. I heard it’s very dangerous. I haven’t heard about that, they probably want to keep it from me, thank you for telling me.”
He then quipped: “Let’s get outta here right now!”
