A 24-year-old Kansas man has been arrested after allegedly making online calls for President Donald Trump to be shot, officials said.
Jaden J. Read of Clearwater was arrested on Saturday, two days after authorities received a tip about a series of disturbing Facebook posts concerning Trump’s planned visit to Wichita on Monday, according to the Department of Justice.
Federal prosecutors said the investigation began on October 15, when a person contacted Crime Stoppers about comments Read had posted beneath a KAKE News report detailing the president’s scheduled October 19 appearance.
In one alleged post, Read urged someone to shoot Trump, writing, “Let’s shoot Trump honestly, where’s our shooter? I’m tired of living this money life.”
Prosecutors allege that Read later claimed in the comments that he had obtained ammunition and threatened to kill the president.
“I just got a 308 and 305 round and I’m killing this pedo,” Read allegedly wrote.
Investigators later found additional comments Read allegedly made on October 17 beneath a separate KWCH 12 News report about Trump’s Wichita visit.
According to prosecutors, Read said he would shoot the president himself, claimed to know where Trump would speak and said he had already identified nearby rooftops.
A 24-year-old Kansas man has been arrested after allegedly calling for President Donald Trump to be shot, according to officials
Jaden J. Read, from Clearwater, was arrested on Saturday, two days after a tip alerted authorities to a string of disturbing Facebook posts about Trump’s upcoming visit to Wichita on Monday, the Department of Justice said
“Can we shoot him in Kansas please I will myself,” Read allegedly wrote.
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A minute later, he allegedly added: “IK where your speech will be. Already mapped out roofs around. Finna get kirked since yall couldn’t help him.”
The posts triggered a federal investigation and led to Read’s arrest in Clearwater on October 17.
He remains in federal custody while awaiting a detention hearing.
Read has been charged federally with threatening the president, an offense punishable by up to five years in prison.
Ryan A Kriegshauser, the US attorney for Kansas, said the case demonstrated that political disagreements do not justify threats of violence.
He added that Americans have the right to express strong political views, but that freedom of expression has legal boundaries.
The Secret Service, US Marshals Service, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol and Wichita Police Department are participating in the investigation.
Read allegedly wrote that he would shoot the president (pictured boarding Air Force One ahead of the rally) himself before claiming he knew where Trump would be speaking and had already identified nearby rooftops
Read’s reference to rooftops echoes the location used by Thomas Matthew Crooks when he shot at Trump on July 13, 2024.
Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, fired eight rounds from an AR-15-style rifle at Trump just moments after he took the stage.
The president’s right ear was wounded, and a rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, died. Two others were injured.