Trump is referred to as “Personal-1” in the indictment. (file)
New York:
The US Secret Service on Monday arrested a 72-year-old man in New York after he allegedly threatened to kill former President Donald Trump, a criminal indictment showed.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn say Thomas Welnicke “deliberately and knowingly threatened to kill, kidnap and cause bodily harm” to the former US president.
It alleges that Melnick told US Capitol Police during an interview in July 2020 that if Trump “loses the 2020 election and refuses to step down” he will “grab arms and take them down”. “
Trump is referred to as “Personal-1” in the indictment.
Melnick is also accused of leaving two voicemail messages at the Secret Service’s office in Long Island, New York, in January last year in which he “threatened to kill” Trump as well as 12 unidentified members of Congress.
“Oh yeah, it’s a threat, come and arrest me. I’ll do whatever I can to get out of it.” [Individual-1] And his 12 monkeys,” said Melnick, who lives in Queens.
Melnick is also alleged to have called the Secret Service desk in New York City three times with his cell phone last November, each time introducing himself by name.
“He repeatedly referred to Personal-1 as ‘Hitler’ and said, ‘I will do everything I can to make sure [Individual-1] is dead,” the indictment reads.
In another call last month, he said “a new civil war could break out and it is appropriate to take up arms against the government when ballots don’t matter.”
He said that according to the indictment, he had a .22 caliber shotgun.
Melnick was later produced on charges in Brooklyn federal court via videoconference on Monday and was to be released on payment of a $50,000 bond.
Under bail conditions, he was ordered to be placed under night detention and installed GPS monitoring device. In addition, he was ordered to seek support for treatment for his mental health as well as any alcohol or drug addictions, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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