Florida man arrested after online Trump assassination threats; Secret Service investigating

The Secret Service is investigating after a Florida man was arrested in West Palm Beach and charged with calling for the assassination of the president Donald Trump on Facebook.

West Palm Beach Local Shannon Depararro Atkins, 46, was arrested after allegedly threatening the president’s life, Western Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo confirmed during a press conference on Saturday.

Atkins was charged with felony intimidation, drug possession and trafficking in contraband in county custody, according to jail records.

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The council was invited to FBI National Threat Operations Center Late Sunday, Atkins reported on Facebook that he had made violent threats against the president.

A Palm Beach detective began working the case Monday and found “disturbing” poles, according to Araujo.

Some of the posts were: “Lincoln, JFK, Reagan, Martin Luther King And Trump – unfortunately, one is still alive “;” bullets, please. Jesus save America “; and “I got banned from X because I said, “I hope and pray someone kills him. We haven’t had an assassination in years.”

The department obtained probable cause and began surveillance, arresting Atkins near one of his homes on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Officers found three bags of cocaine in Atkins’ pocket at the time of the arrest, according to Araujo.

While being interviewed, he admitted that he had written it facebook posts, But he said he was joking, authorities said.

“Folks, this is not a joke. Nothing of this kind is a joke,” Araujo said during a press conference.

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The Secret Service has been notified and is reviewing the case to determine if federal charges will be filed, the department said.

“The US Secret Service does not comment on matters involving protective intelligence,” the agency wrote in an email to Fox News Digital on Saturday. “What we can say is that the Secret Service is investigating all threats to our protectors.”

Authorities have confirmed that the FBI is also involved in the investigation.

Araujo said that in today’s climate, people cannot make threats, even in jest.

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“We’ve had incident after incident, example after example of these threats becoming real — and we take that very seriously,” he said. “Whether we prevented something – you never know. I know we developed probable cause, we arrested Mr. Atkins and he will have to answer to the charges.”

Atkins was posted a $5,000 bond on the drug charges, but the bond was denied because of threats against Trump, according to jail records.