Federal authorities moved after a public tip brought a series of alarming online comments to their attention. What investigators found included an alleged threat with a disturbing reference to preparations near an upcoming public appearance.
The messages appeared beneath local news coverage, where readers had gathered to discuss a highly anticipated visit. Within days, the investigation had produced a federal criminal complaint and an arrest before the scheduled event.
Jaden J. Read, 24, of Clearwater, Kansas, was arrested October 17 for allegedly threatening President Donald Trump before his visit.
The Justice Department said Read posted threats beneath Facebook articles discussing the president’s scheduled October 19 appearance in Wichita.
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One alleged message went beyond expressing hostility toward Trump and claimed familiarity with the location of his upcoming speech.
“Already mapped out roofs around,” Read allegedly wrote, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas.
That alleged claim puts nearby rooftops at the center of the account prosecutors released about the threats.
However, the announcement does not establish that investigators independently confirmed Read had actually mapped those rooftops.
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The investigation began October 15, when a Crime Stoppers tip directed authorities toward comments beneath a KAKE News article.
That report concerned Trump’s planned trip to Wichita, according to the Justice Department’s announcement.
Prosecutors attributed multiple threatening comments to Read, including an alleged appeal for someone to shoot the president.
“Let’s shoot Trump honestly, where’s our shooter?” he allegedly wrote in one of the comments described by federal authorities.
The department said another comment followed immediately beneath the same article, referring to ammunition and threatening to kill Trump.
Investigators also identified alleged threats beneath a separate Facebook article from KWCH 12 News covering the same presidential visit.
“Can we shoot him in Kansas please I will myself,” Read allegedly posted, according to prosecutors.
A subsequent comment appeared one minute later and allegedly claimed knowledge of where Trump would deliver his speech.
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That was the message containing the alleged rooftop reference, making the scheduled appearance a specific focus of the comments.
The alleged posts therefore concerned an identifiable upcoming visit, rather than an unspecified future appearance by the president.
Authorities arrested Read in Clearwater on October 17, the same day federal prosecutors filed their criminal complaint.
The arrest came two days before the October 19 visit discussed in the Facebook articles.
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Federal authorities said Read was taken into custody and would remain there pending a detention hearing.
The announcement did not provide the outcome of that hearing or identify a trial date.
U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser addressed the case with a warning about threats directed at political figures.
“Political violence and threats of political violence will not be tolerated,” Kriegshauser said in the department’s announcement.
He also emphasized the distinction between constitutionally protected political disagreement and speech that crosses legal boundaries.
“The first Amendment allows for robust disagreement but there are constraints,” the federal prosecutor said.
“I caution people to stay within the bounds of constitutionally protected speech.”
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The Justice Department identified five law enforcement agencies as participants in the investigation into the alleged threats.
They included the Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol and Wichita Police Department.
The department’s account traces the investigation from a public tip to alleged comments on two separate local news reports.
For readers following the case, the complaint’s precise scope matters: Read faces an allegation of threatening the president.
The announcement does not describe a completed attack or establish that the rooftop claim reflected an operational plan.
Read is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in court, Fox News reported.
The case now moves through the federal judicial process following an arrest made before the president’s scheduled visit.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
