Florida Write-in Candidate Arrested for Threatening to Kill President Trump

William Upham, a 35-year-old write-in candidate in the Republican primary for Florida’s fifth congressional district, was arrested and charged in federal court with threatening to kill President Trump, The Guardian reported. Upham was taken into custody on Thursday after appearing in federal court in Jacksonville, Florida. If convicted he faces up to five years in federal prison.

The Secret Service began investigating Upham after receiving reports of potential threats against President Trump. Agents reviewed two videos Upham posted to his social media accounts while wearing his military uniform. In the first video Upham called for the overthrow of the Trump administration and said, “This is a call to arms.

Upham sent a communication to a third party stating he made the videos to “declare war” against Trump and would “kill President Trump at the time that God chooses,” according to the complaint. Federal authorities said Upham had access to firearms and had made concerning statements to law enforcement as recently as this month. Upham is a former marine and former state prosecutor.

Attorney Gregory Kehoe announced the charge in a press release. Hung Cao, acting US secretary of the navy, posted on social media that Upham is no longer a Marine and does not represent the service’s values or ethos.