Florida man arrested for making online threats against Trump, Vance, their families

By 
 July 20, 2024

Following last weekend's assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, law enforcement and the public have presumably been on high alert to guard against any additional would-be attacks against the 2024 Republican nominee.

That extra caution led to the arrest this week of a Florida man, identified as Michael Wiseman, who posted threats on social media against Trump, vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), and members of their families, according to The Hill.

The arrest occurred less than a week after a gunman nearly assassinated Trump at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania with a rifle shot from a nearby rooftop that grazed the former president and GOP nominee's ear during his speech.

Arrest announced

On Friday, the Jupiter Police Department announced that local resident Wiseman was arrested on charges of Written Threats to Kill following an investigation that uncovered threatening social media posts he had made against former President Trump, Sen. Vance, and their families.

The police had received multiple tips online and in person from concerned citizens about Wiseman's posts and coordinated their investigation with the U.S. Secret Service and the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, and the suspect was ultimately taken into custody without incident.

Per the press release, Wiseman had posted multiple threats on his Facebook account against both Trump and Vance as well as threats "concerning bodily harm to members of the Trump and Vance families."

Threats were taken "seriously" by local police

Local ABC affiliate WPBF reported that Jupiter Police Deputy Chief Michael Barbera said Wiseman admitted to making the threatening posts online but did not explain why he decided to do it.

He also revealed that the suspect has no prior criminal record, had no weapons in his possession at the time of the arrest, and has cooperated with law enforcement.

"We take all threats to human beings seriously here at the Jupiter Police Department, but given what happened a couple of days ago, we took it a step further," Barbera said.

Threats and arrests are "not unusual"

Local CBS affiliate WPEC reported that Deputy Chief Barbera said, "When you get on that keyboard and want to post to social media, really think about what you’re saying or putting out there."

"I think in this level of politics and the way things are going in this world, I think all threats should be taken serious and investigated thoroughly," he added.

The local outlet also spoke with former FBI Agent Stuart Kaplan, who said in reference to last weekend's assassination attempt, "I think now, the Secret Service has stepped up their assets and resources to the level as if Donald Trump was the sitting President."

Kaplan also noted that these kinds of online threats and subsequent arrests occur fairly often but don't always receive much or any media attention.

"It’s not unusual," the former FBI agent said. "We don’t hear about it, but the United States Secret Service does, in fact, arrest many people throughout the year in connection with threatening the president, the vice president, other dignitaries, that they are tasked to protect."

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