Kansas man charged with threatening to kill Trump in Facebook post could get 5 years

A Facebook post with a death threat against President Donald Trump allegedly made by a Kansas man could land him in federal prison for up to 5 years.

Aaron McDowell, of Salina, was charged Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wichita with one count of threatening the President of the United States. Federal prosecutors allege that McDowell on Tuesday posted the following threat to his Facebook page:

“I’m going to kill Trump in the white house tomorrow at 7 PM.”

Another person commented on McDowell’s post, stating “Yo prove it.” McDowell responded with “You’ll see it on the news,” according to an affidavit written by a Secret Service agent.

The agent wrote in the court document that on Wednesday he interviewed McDowell at his home in the 2100 block of East Crawford. McDowell told him that the previous day he had a phone conversation with his father about government conspiracy theories. He told his dad that he was going to post on social media a death threat against the president.

McDowell told the Secret Service agent that his dad warned him not to do it “because that was serious and that he would be visited by agents of the government,” according to the court document. McDowell admitted that, despite his father’s warning, he posted the threat to Facebook from his cellphone.

Federal law makes it illegal to knowingly and willfully threaten the president or successors to the presidency. Violators may be fined, imprisoned for up to 5 years, or both.

This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 9:03 PM.