Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening Trump's Life in Facebook Videos

The man went as far as showing off an AR-15 that he would use to shoot Trump.

November 27, 2024

Donald Trump at a rally, wearing a navy suit and red tie, with a crowd of supporters in the background.

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A man in Arizona was arrested after he posted a series of videos on Facebook alleging he would kill President-Elect Donald Trump.

On Monday, authorities arrested Manuel Tamayo-Torres, and he's facing a felony charge of threatening the lives of Trump and his family. According to court documents obtained by CNN, Tamayo-Torres stated in one of the videos that Trump, his son Barron, and his entire family are "going to die," and that this was the president-elect's "reality."

Court documents also stated that Tamayo-Torres shared another video earlier this month in which he brandished a "white AR 15-style rifle with a 30-round magazine inserted into it" while threatening to shoot Trump.

In addition to the felony charge, court documents revealed Tamayo-Torres was also hit with several counts of making false statements on federal forms while attempting to purchase a firearm in Phoenix last year.

This alleged assassination attempt is the first one since Trump was grazed in the ear by a bullet during a pre-election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last summer. Shots were fired while Trump was speaking, and Secret Service agents shielded him to the ground until getting confirmation the shooter was "down."

Trump had blood on his right ear and face, but some people were convinced it was all a set-up to gain sympathy votes ahead of the 2024 election. The FBI confirmed that an assassination attempt had been made on Trump's life and that a bullet caused the injury to his ear.

It didn't help the public's perception of the assassination attempt when an ex-Secret Service Agent claimed Trump's security detail messed up. During an appearance on TMZ's Under Fire: The Trump Assassination Attempt, ex-agent Richard Staropoli said that Trump's security detail messed up terribly on that day.

"I evaluated that event that unfolded as a total breakdown in communication, a total failure for the Secret Service, a total lack of a cohesive, coherent, and competent security plan," said Richard Staropoli. "It was nothing good that I have to say about how those events unfolded."