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Left: Shannon Atkins (Palm Beach County Jail). Right: President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One as he travels from Las Vegas to Miami on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025 (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein).
Authorities in Florida arrested a 46-year-old man who allegedly made threatening posts about President Donald Trump on Facebook.
Shannon Depararro Atkins, of Okeechobee, is facing a charge of written threats to kill. The FBI alerted the West Palm Beach Police Department about a tip it received about a man making threats on Facebook against Trump in the days leading up to the inauguration. Cops released a sampling some of Atkins’ alleged comments.
He posted a meme that said, “Jan 20 is the Day of Mourning for the USA.” Atkins allegedly commented: “Bullets please. Please Jesus! Save America.”
Another post showed a meme with pictures of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Regan, John F. Kennedy and Trump — plus Martin Luther King Jr. — that said “All stood up to Democrats. All were shot.” Atkins allegedly responded to the meme: “I’ve been banned from ‘X,’ because I said I hope and pray someone kills him. History is supposed to repeat itself. We haven’t had an assassination in years.”
The New York Post uncovered another alleged post by Atkins that said “America needs one good bullet to be saved.”
Cops surveilled Atkins and they pulled him over in his BMW at around 7:30 p.m. Friday near his home. He was allegedly in possession of cocaine. Atkins reportedly admitted to making the posts, but said he was joking. Cops were not amused.
“Folks, this is not a joke,” West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo told reporters at a Saturday press conference. “Nothing of that sort is a joke. In today’s climate, you really can’t say things like this. We have incident after incident, example after example of when these threats become real. And we take these very seriously.”
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State voter records show Atkins is a registered Democrat. The Post obtained a photo showing Atkins in a Harris/Walz T-shirt. Court records show West Palm Beach police also are petitioning the court for a mental health protection order.
Local cops alerted the Secret Service who will determine if it file federal charges against Atkins. His next court date is scheduled for Feb. 24.