A Clearwater man faces federal charges for Facebook posts that allegedly mapped rooftops and vowed to shoot President Donald Trump at a Kansas rally, prosecutors said.
Jaden John Read, 24, was arrested Saturday in Clearwater and charged with one count of making threats against the president after authorities received a Crime Stoppers tip about his social media comments.
The tip pointed to posts left Oct. 15 under local television news items about Trump’s planned visit to the Wichita area. Federal prosecutors moved quickly. Read remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing.
The Wichita Eagle reported that court records checked Monday afternoon listed no hearing date and no lawyer for Read. Trump was scheduled to speak that same Monday evening in Park City.
If convicted, Read faces up to five years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Prosecutors say Read left two comments on a KAKE News Facebook post detailing Trump’s visit and two more on a KWCH post covering the same trip.
U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser announced the charge in a news release. The charging language states Read “did knowingly and willfully make any such threat to take the life of and to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States.”
One alleged comment on the KAKE post read:
“Let’s shoot Trump honestly, where’s our shooter? I’m tired of living this money life”
Another under the same post stated:
“I just got a 308 and 305 round and I’m killing this pedo.”
On the KWCH post, prosecutors allege Read wrote:
“Can we shoot him in Kansas please I will myself”
The fourth comment referenced rooftops and a prior assassination:
“IK where your speech will be. Already mapped out roofs around. Finna get kirked since yall couldn’t help him.”
The Eagle noted the phrase “get kirked” alluded to Charlie Kirk, the political activist killed last year by a rooftop sniper while speaking outdoors at Utah Valley University.
Kriegshauser made the government’s position plain.
“Political violence and threats of political violence will not be tolerated,”
He added that free speech has limits.
“The first Amendment allows for robust disagreement but there are constraints. I caution people to stay within the bounds of constitutionally protected speech.”
The sequence was straightforward. A tip arrived Oct. 15. Investigators examined the Facebook threads. Charges and the arrest followed on Saturday in Clearwater.
Cases like this fit a wider pattern of federal action against people who post explicit threats against the president. A Los Angeles man indicted on federal charges faced similar allegations of targeting Trump and those around him.
Read’s alleged posts went beyond angry venting. They named a caliber, claimed knowledge of the speech location, and spoke of roofs already scouted. That detail tracks the method used in the Kirk killing and raised the stakes for Secret Service and local law enforcement ahead of the Park City event.
Threats of this kind force constant adjustments in how the president and his family move. Barron Trump lives inside a security bubble shaped by Iranian plots and repeated assassination attempts that have rewritten daily life for the entire household.
Even routine appearances now carry heavier planning. The same climate of menace has reached the courts and the White House grounds themselves. The Trump administration tells the Supreme Court that ongoing security threats require finishing the White House ballroom project without delay.
Justice Samuel Alito has spoken publicly about the physical danger now attached to judicial work. Alito says overturning Roe required courage at a time when threats against judges have climbed.
None of those broader pressures excuse the specific words attributed to Read. Federal law treats true threats against the president as a serious felony, not protected debate. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas treated the Facebook thread exactly that way.
Read sits in custody. The detention hearing will decide the next step. Trump spoke in Park City as planned. The comments that triggered the tip remain the heart of the case: roofs mapped, rounds claimed, and an open invitation to “shoot him in Kansas.”
Online rage that turns into scouting reports and caliber talk is not speech. It is a crime, and federal prosecutors just proved they will treat it as one.
