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Google PlayA man from Rockaway Beach, New York has been charged with threatening to kill former POTUS Donald Trump.
Per Reuters, 72-year-old Thomas Welnicki was charged on Monday and is alleged to have voluntarily made his threats known to both the Secret Service and Capitol Police. In Jan. 7-dated court documents viewed by Complex, Welnicki is alleged to have “knowingly and willfully threatened to kill, kidnap, and inflict bodily harm upon a former president.”
During a voluntary interview in January of last year, Welnicki is said to have given his own cell number to law enforcement. And during a voluntary interview in July of 2020, Welnicki is alleged to have told Capitol police that “if [Individual-1] loses the 2020 election and refused to step down,” he would “acquire weapons” to “take him down.”
While Trump is not explicitly named in the documents, the description of “Individual-1” quite blatantly confirms it to be the former Apprentice host and single-term POTUS, as seen below:
“Individual-1, an individual whose identify is known to the deponent, served as President of the United States from January 20, 2017 until January 20, 2021.”
Elsewhere in court documents viewed by Complex, voicemail messages from Welnicki to multiple Secret Service offices are excerpted. In one voicemail, Welnicki is alleged to have stated that he would “aid and abet” anyone who would shoot Trump, as well as 12 unidentified members of Congress. In November 2021 calls to the Secret Service’s NYC Duty Desk, Welnicki allegedly referred to Trump as “Hitler.”
A prosecution using 18 U.S.C. § 879 (which prohibits making threats against ex-presidents) requires proof that any such statements were intended to be threats, as well as proof that any such statements could “reasonably be perceived” as threats. Any individual who knowingly makes such threats can be fined and/or imprisoned for as much as five years if a conviction is secured.
News of this case arrives amid continued coverage of last year’s fatal Capitol riot, which itself was preceded by election-related claims from Trump and others that have been widely and repeatedly debunked. Per a report from CBS News on Monday, lawyers operating on Trump’s behalf are this week attempting to get a judge to toss a number of lawsuits focused on the Jan. 6 riot.
