After allegedly posting videos online threatening to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump and his family, federal investigators have arrested a man from Arizona.
According to charging documents filed in the case, Manuel Tamayo-Torres made a number of strange and outrageous claims about Trump in the videos that were posted on Facebook in recent months. However, he also appears to have brandished an AR 15-style rifle and other weapons in the videos. In August, he also recorded his visit to an arena in Glendale, Arizona, while Trump was holding a campaign rally there.
Despite referring to Trump as “Individual 1,” the charging documents claim that Tamayo-Torres made “vague yet direct threats” against “the president-elect,” and sources with knowledge of the investigation independently verified that Tamayo-Torres specifically targeted Trump with her alleged threats.
Tamayo-Torres allegedly stated, “(Y)ou’re gonna die,” in a video that he uploaded on Thursday. “(Y) our son will pass away. Your entire family will perish…. I’m going to make you look foolish.”
According to the charge documents, the video was one of “numerous” rambling, profanity-filled films that he had broadcast “on a near-daily basis” in recent months alleging that “Individual 1” had abducted and sex-trafficked his children.
Whether Tamayo-Torres is a parent or not is unknown.
In a video posted earlier in November, Tamayo-Torres allegedly threatened “Individual 1” while brandishing “what appears to be a white AR 15-style rifle with a 30-round magazine inserted into it,” according to the criminal documents.
According to the criminal documents, Tamayo-Torres claimed to have seen “Individual 1” and the Secret Service abduct his daughter in another video. The video was uploaded from Glendale, Arizona’s Desert Diamond Arena on August 23, the day of Trump’s campaign rally.
Trump said during the rally that he was “nearly assassinated” a month prior when Thomas Crooks, a Pennsylvania man, fired on him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, using an AR 15-style rifle. Authorities are still unable to pinpoint a specific reason for the attack.
There are “risks incurred by leaders who stand up to the corrupt political establishment,” Trump warned rally attendees.
“When you stand up, you bring on some trouble for yourself, but you have to do what’s right,” Trump stated.
According to the charging documents, an officer from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives task force discovered images on Facebook of Tamayo-Torres holding a rifle, a bullpup-style shotgun, and the AR15-style rifle that was featured in one of his videos while looking into the more recent alleged threats from the man.
According to court documents, Tamayo-Torres was caught on Monday close to San Diego, where he planned to relocate shortly.
The charges against him were filed in Arizona, even though he was arrested in California. One count of threatening a president or the president’s successor was brought against him.
After he reportedly lied on federal documents a year ago while attempting to acquire a weapon from a gun store in Phoenix, he was additionally charged with four counts of making false statements during the acquisition of a firearm.
According to the charging documents, he stated on those forms that he had never been convicted of a felony before, but he had been found guilty of assault in San Diego in 2003, which made it illegal for him to own a handgun.
As of Tuesday night, Tamayo-Torres had no lawyer listed in court documents.