A Florida man was arrested for allegedly making on-line threats to President Donald Trump, in keeping with police.
Shannon Depararro Atkins, 46, was taken into custody on Friday following a site visitors cease close to his residence in West Palm Seaside, a brief distance from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Atkins had allegedly posted “violent rhetoric” about Trump on his Fb account, West Palm Seaside Police Division Chief Tony Araujo stated throughout a press convention on Saturday.
Shannon Atkins, A person who made threats in opposition to the President of the USA on social media, was arrested Friday night time by West Palm Seaside police, Jan. 25, 2025.
West Palm Seaside Police Division
A minimum of one of many posts, which Araujo confirmed reporters, consisted of a meme referring to the assassination try on Trump in July 2024.
Police stated Atkins admitted to writing the posts however stated he had simply been “joking.”
“People, this isn’t a joke. Nothing of that kind is a joke,” Araujo stated.
Police stated they grew to become conscious of the posts after one other man, from Okeechobee, Florida, despatched in a tip to the FBI.
Atkins was taken into custody with out incident Friday night time. He was discovered with cocaine on him, in keeping with police.
Tony Araujo, Chief of the West Palm Seaside Police Division, speaks throughout a information convention relating to an arrest made in reference to on-line threats to President Donald Trump, in West Palm Seaside, Fla., Jan. 25, 2025.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
It was not instantly clear if Atkins has retained an lawyer. ABC Information has reached out to him for remark.
Araujo stated the U.S. Secret Service was notified of the arrest and is wanting into it to find out if federal fees needs to be filed.
“In immediately’s local weather, you actually cannot say issues like this,” Araujo stated. “We now have incident after incident, instance after instance, of when these threats turn into actual, and we take these very severely.”