Man charged with threatening to kill Trump ahead of his Kansas rally tonight
A 24-year-old Kansas man has been arrested after allegedly calling for President Donald Trump to be shot, claiming he had acquired ammunition and scouted rooftops near the site of the president’s planned speech.
According to a release from the Department of Justice, Jaden J. Read, from Clearwater, was arrested on October 17, two days after a tip alerted authorities to a string of disturbing Facebook posts about Trump’s upcoming visit to Wichita.
Federal prosecutors said the investigation began on October 15 when someone contacted Crime Stoppers about comments Read had left beneath a KAKE News report announcing the president’s October 19 appearance.
In one post, Read allegedly called for someone to shoot Trump, writing, ‘Let’s shoot Trump honestly, where’s our shooter? I’m tired of living this money life.’
He then allegedly followed up in the comments by claiming he had obtained ammunition and threatening to kill the president.
‘I just got a 308 and 305 round and I’m killing this pedo,’ Read wrote.
On October 17, investigators subsequently uncovered further comments Read had made beneath a separate report by KWCH 12 News about Trump’s visit.
Read allegedly wrote that he would shoot the president himself before claiming he knew where Trump would be speaking and had already identified nearby rooftops.
‘Can we shoot him in Kansas please I will myself,’ Read wrote.
One minute later, Read wrote, ‘IK where your speech will be. Already mapped out roofs around. Finna get kirked since yall couldn’t help him.’
The comments prompted a federal investigation, resulting in Read’s arrest in Clearwater on October 17.
He is now being held in federal custody while awaiting a detention hearing.
Read faces a federal charge of threatening the president, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to five years.
Ryan A Kriegshauser, the US attorney for Kansas, said the case served as a warning that political disagreements did not give people the right to make threats of violence.
He stressed that while Americans are entitled to express strong political opinions, that freedom has legal limits.
The investigation is being carried out by the Secret Service, US Marshals Service, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol and Wichita Police Department.
