An Arizona man has been charged with one count of threatening to kill Donald Trump and the president-elect’s family members in a series of videos posted on social media after and before the November election.
Manuel Tamayo-Torres said in one of the latest videos that Trump’s “whole family is going to die,” according to the charging documents. He accused Trump of kidnapping and sex-trafficking his children in what appears to be his motive for issuing the threats.
Trump is not identified by name in the court documents, but “Individual 1” is described as a former president and the current president-elect.
“[Individual 1] you’re gonna die, [Individual 1], your son’s gonna die,” Tamayo-Torres said in a Facebook video posted last Thursday. “Your whole family is going to die, [Individual 1]. This is reality now for you. This is the only reality you have in your future, [Individual 1], dying.”
“You’re Caucasian nothing,” he continued in an expletive-ridden tirade. “You’ll earn nothing. Aryan money, that’s all you have. You’re a low-life scum. I’ll spit in your fg face motherfer, and if they give me a chance, I’m going to f***g bury you myself.”
On November 13, Tamayo-Torres brandished an AR-15-style rifle with a 30-round magazine while threatening Trump’s life.
“You see [Individual l], this from far away, [Individual l] . . . As soon I hear that leave that barrel, I’m already on the foot run after you [Individual 1],” he said. “And all these little boys and their little badges, off the books, [Individual 1]. They can’t run very fast with a bunch of equipment, a firearm, an AR, a 50 caliber.”
The suspect also posted a video and photos on August 23 at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., where Trump introduced Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his supporters for the first time. The rally came hours after Kennedy dropped his independent bid for the presidency and endorsed Trump.
Tamayo-Torres was arrested near San Diego, Calif., on Monday and subsequently charged in Arizona. In addition to levying threats, he faces four counts for making false statements while purchasing a firearm in Phoenix last year.
The man was convicted of felony assault in 2003 and sentenced to six years in California state prison. In July 2023, his ex-wife obtained a restraining order against him in Arizona.
Trump faced two credible assassination attempts this year. In July, Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump in the right ear at a rally in Butler, Pa. And in September, Ryan Wesley Routh was caught with a firearm near Trump’s Florida golf course. A Secret Service agent fired at Routh, causing him to flee the scene, but he was arrested shortly thereafter.
A separate Arizona man who threatened to kill Trump while he visited the battleground state in August was arrested. Additionally, in October, a Las Vegas man was arrested and accused by a California sheriff of carrying out a potential third assassination attempt against the Republican candidate. The man claimed the police falsely defamed his name for an attack he never planned to enact.
Several of Trump’s cabinet picks were hit with bomb threats and SWATting attempts Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, a Trump transition spokeswoman said in a statement. The FBI is currently investigating the threats.