Kansas man, 24, arrested over alleged threats to shoot Donald Trump

A 24-year-old man from Clearwater, Kansas, Jaden J Read, has been arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill US President Donald Trump. According to the US Department of Justice, he allegedly posted threats online before the president's rally in the Wichita area on Monday. He was detained last Saturday, and the case shows how federal authorities respond to online threats against the head of state.

How investigators found the posts

Federal authorities say a Crime Stoppers tip, received on 15 October, led investigators to a Facebook comment under a KAKE News article about Trump's upcoming Wichita visit. Read allegedly wrote there that Trump should be shot, and immediately afterwards added a second comment mentioning rifle rounds and a threat to kill the president.

Investigators also found two further comments allegedly posted under a KWCH 12 News article about the same visit. In one, the author allegedly said he knew where the speech would take place and had already mapped out the surrounding rooftops.

Where the case stands

Read was taken into federal custody and will stay there until a detention hearing. The federal prosecutor's office for the District of Kansas filed a criminal complaint against him for making threats against the president. US attorney Ryan A Kriegshauser said political violence and threats of it would not be tolerated. He noted that the First Amendment allows robust disagreement but sets limits, and urged people to stay within constitutionally protected speech.

The Secret Service, the US Marshals Service, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Kansas Highway Patrol and the Wichita police department investigated the case.

The rally in Park City

Trump's rally on Monday took place in Park City, about 10 minutes from downtown Wichita, and drew 6,000 people. Local reports and the Sedgwick County sheriff's office say one person was arrested near the designated free-speech area for failing to comply with a lawful order to regulate traffic. Another 11 "uninvited individuals" were escorted out of the Heartland Credit Union Arena for causing disruptions.