Kansas man, 24, arrested and charged with threatening to assassinate Trump

Jaden Read was charged with threatening President Trump.

A 24-year-old Kansas man was taken into custody by federal authorities ahead of President Trump's visit to Wichita on Monday for a campaign rally after a Crime Stoppers tip to local police alerted authorities to several threatening posts made on social media. 

Jaden Read was arrested by federal authorities on Saturday after the Wichita Police alerted the Secret Service to the threatening posts, which were make on Facebook in response to local news stories about Trump's upcoming visit. The first posts Read allegedly made occurred on Oct. 15, four days ahead of Trump's arrival in Wichita. 

The information shared by the local police set off a multi-departmental investigation the U.S. Marshall Services, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and the Kansas Highway Patrol, as well as the Secret Service and the Wichita Police Department. Authorities nabbed Read in his hometown of Clearwater, Kansas, on Saturday.

“Let’s shoot Trump honestly, where’s our shooter? I’m tired of living this money life,” Read posted, according to a federal complaint filed by the U.S Attorney's Office in Kasas. "I just got a 308 and 305 round and I’m killing this pedo,” Read allegedly wrote in another post. 

Perhaps his most chilling alleged threat posted on Facebook was “IK where your speech will be. Already mapped out roofs around. Finna get kirked since yall couldn’t help him.” The threat seemed to not only reference last year's assassination of Charlie Kirk on a university campus in Utah, but the attempt made on Trump's life in Butler, Pa., in July 2024, when Thomas Crooks hid on a roof and fired multiple rounds at Trump as he spoke at a rally, striking him in the ear and hitting multiple people in the audience. 

The president has been the subject of multiple assassination attempts, including one in Washington, D.C., back in April. 

Authorities didn't indicate whether Read has a political affiliation, but with a recent poll showing 30% of Democrats support an assassination of Trump, federal authorities are cracking down on any and all threats against the president. 

“Political violence and threats of political violence will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser said. “The first Amendment allows for robust disagreement but there are constraints. I caution people to stay within the bounds of constitutionally protected speech.”

Trump's appearance in Wichita went on Monday night without any incident. For more on the story, watch the video below.