A man has been charged with threatening to kill Donald Trump.Authorities arrested Manuel Tamayo-Torres on Monday in southern California.
He is accused of posting videos on social media threatening to kill the president-elect, according to court documents.In one video, posted on 13 November, Tamayo-Torres threatened to shoot the 78-year-old while holding what authorities said appeared to be an AR-15 style rifle.Among the other videos he posted, one was from an area in Glendale, Arizona, on 23 August, the same day Mr Trump held a rally there, court papers said.
The videos, posted on a “near-daily basis”, accuse Mr Trump and his family of kidnapping and sex-trafficking, Sky News’ US partner NBC News reports.In a video posted on 21 November, Tamayo-Torres said Mr Trump’s “whole family is going to die”, the outlet said.
It added that he’d said: “You’re Caucasian nothing. You’ll earn nothing. Aryan money, that’s all you have.”You’re a low-life scum. I’ll spit in your f****** face motherf*****, and if they give me a chance, I’m going to f****** bury you myself.”
He was charged with one count of making threats against the president-elect and four counts of making false statements during the purchase of a firearm, NBC News said.
It comes as “several” members of Mr Trump’s incoming cabinet were targeted with bomb threats, the transition team said.The threats were made on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and they ranged from bomb threats to “swatting” – which is when a false crime is reported to bring an armed police response to someone’s home.Spokesperson for Mr Trump, Karoline Leavitt said: “Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them.”Read more:Trump cabinet: who’s in and who’s outChina reacts to Trump tariffs threat
The FBI said it was aware of “numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents” targeting Mr Trump’s cabinet and administration nominees and was working with its law enforcement partners.The threats come months after Mr Trump’s ear was grazed by gunfire during an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July, which killed a spectator and left two others seriously injured.In September a man was charged with attempted assassination after allegedly positioning himself with a rifle outside one of Mr Trump’s golf courses in Florida as he played a round.