Florida man arrested after making death threats against Biden

Washington — A Florida man was arrested Monday and charged with making threats against President Biden and other federal officials, according to the Justice Department.

Jason Alday, 39, is believed to have made threats against Mr Biden on June 25 from a psychiatric hospital in Tallahassee, Florida, and in a series of social media posts in late June and July after he was released from another hospital. He has been remanded in custody, according to the Justice Department.

Court records show that the Secret Service received a call about Alday from an intake coordinator at the mental health facility, who told an agent that during the intake process he had said, “I don’t like President Biden. I want to kill him, slit his throat.”

The coordinator said Alday was taken to another hospital in Tallahassee for medical treatment unrelated to mental health issues, according to an affidavit filed in federal district court in northern Florida.

A Secret Service agent, accompanied by officers from the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office, interviewed Alday at his parents’ home on July 1. He said he could not remember making any statements about Mr. Biden during his stay at the mental health facility, the court filing said. He also denied making the threatening remark about the president but admitted he did not like Mr. Biden, a Secret Service agent’s affidavit said.

On July 11, the Secret Service found several posts by an unidentified user on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that were directed against Biden, the court filing said. One post on July 11 read, “I will kill Joe Biden today!!,” and another shared on June 30 read, “Sources: Joe Biden’s health is rapidly deteriorating. He is not doing well. Should I take him out?”

Three other social media posts from July racially slurred and threatened the Secret Service agent who interviewed Alday, the affidavit said. The Secret Service identified the account as one associated with Alday.

He was charged with three counts: threatening the president, sending threatening letters and threatening a federal official.

Alday’s arrest came two days after a attempted murder against former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was injured when a bullet grazed his ear. One bystander was killed and two others were injured.

Secret Service agents quickly escorted Trump from the stage after the shots were fired and the shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was killed by a Secret Service sniper.

But the agency has be subjected to a thorough examination amid questions about how the gunman was able to gain access to a rooftop near Trump’s speech. Several congressional committees as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s internal oversight agency have launched investigations into the attack, and President Biden ordered an independent review of security at Trump’s rally.

The head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, is also faced with calls for resignation during the attack.