The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Thomas Strievel, 73, of California, with allegedly publicly threatening to kill U.S. President Donald Trump on Facebook after the presidential election. The man was arrested but later released on bail, and the Secret Service launched an investigation.
This is reported by UNN with reference to CBS.
Details
The man, identified as Thomas Eugene Strievel, 73, of San Bernardino County, was charged last week with three counts of threats against the president-elect, the Justice Department said in a press release Tuesday. The indictment, which listed a series of angry Facebook posts that Strievel allegedly wrote about Trump both before and after the election, was released at the same time. Some of them expressed a desire to kill him.
According to the Department of Justice, the charges relate to three messages allegedly written in November. Strievel was arrested on Monday, June 2.
According to the publication, he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Tuesday. He was released on $10,000 bail, the Justice Department said.
The Secret Service is investigating the matter. Strievel's lawyers were not listed in the federal court database.
This defendant is accused of threatening the life of our president - a man who has already survived two crazy assassination attempts
Addition
During last year's election, there were two assassination attempts on Trump. In July, a gunman wounded Mr. Trump in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and in September, a man was charged with attempting to assassinate the then-presidential candidate at his golf club in Florida.
The maximum penalty for threats against the president or president-elect is five years, although judges make sentencing decisions and federal defendants in criminal cases often receive less than the maximum term.
In recent years, the Justice Department has regularly filed charges in connection with threats against Trump, former President Joe Biden, and other senior officials. According to authorities, threats against officials - from members of Congress to judges and prosecutors - are also on the rise.
For example, on Monday, June 2, a Romanian man pleaded guilty to leading a group that was targeting dozens of members of Congress with bomb threats and "swatting".