A potential registered sex offender in Florida has been arrested and charged with three felony counts related to threatening President Joe Biden and other federal officials, the U.S. Department of Justice said. announced on Wednesday, just days after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The Secret Service, which has been under intense scrutiny since Trump was shot by a gunman whose motives remain a mystery, has been monitoring Jason Patrick Alday, 39, of Quincy, Florida, since late June and, with the U.S. Marshalls, detained him. on Monday, according to court documents.
Here’s what we know so far, as the case — which is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Welch — is now pending trial.
‘I want to kill him, slit his throat’
Secret Service Senior Special Agent Jeffery S. Boothe described the alleged sequence of events in a statement of criminal complaint filed in the Tallahassee Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
According to the affidavit, the presidential protective agency was first alerted about Alday on June 25, when Joann Noel, intake coordinator at the Apalachee Center, reported that Alday had checked into the mental health center and said, “No. I like President Biden. I want to kill him, cut his throat.”
Noel spoke with Tjamas Matthews, a senior special agent with the Secret Service office in Tallahassee, who, accompanied by local sheriff’s deputies, visited Alday on July 1 at his parents’ home, where he resides. Alday denied making the statement and became agitated by Matthews’ line of questioning, the affidavit says.
On July 11, the Secret Service’s Open Source Intelligence Branch (OSB) flagged that an X account linked to Alday posted “I’m going to kill Joe Biden today!!”
The OSB also flagged four other posts from the account, which operated under the name Jason Alderman/@Jman86628004 and has since been suspended:
“sources: Joe Biden’s health is deteriorating rapidly. It’s not going very well. Should I end it? reads a June 30 post.
“The Secret Service sent a special agent n—– to my house with Gadsden County officials. I’m still going to slit Joe Biden’s throat,” read one July 1 post, using a racial slur.
“I also want Special Agent Matthews dead. stupid n—– gotta go! was posted on July 5th.
And later, on July 11: “Where are you at Special Agent Matthews? come arrest me n—–!! this is Jason Alday!!
‘He has mental health problems’
On a detention orderUS judge Charles A. Stampelos ordered Alday committed to the custody of the attorney general’s office for confinement in a penitentiary center.
Stampelos acknowledged the defense attorney’s arguments that Alday “has no apparent capacity to carry out any threat and did not take any steps to carry out his threats” and that “he was just venting on the internet because he has mental health issues.”
According to the court document, Alday’s mother, Elizabeth, said her son “has schizoaffective disorder and ADHD, and he is bipolar and on the autism spectrum.” She said he relies on her for daily medication, including a mood stabilizer, antidepressants and antipsychosis medications, and that he receives state-mandated weekly home therapy. She also said that she never saw him carrying a firearm and that he cannot drive.
‘A little dangerous’
Prosecutors argued that even the most restrictive home conditions would not be enough for Alday, who, during previous monitoring, lost his ankle bracelet and “resulted in an assault when the probation officer went to investigate.”
Prosecutors also alleged that Alday has access to kitchen knives and a car at home, and that he had a history of previous run-ins with authorities, including pushing a deputy during one of several visits to his home.
Although Alday was found “incompetent” by a state court in September 2023 and October 2021 and has state court hearings pending in August and December of this year, his federal defense attorney said he believes Alday is “competent for the purposes of these processes and that he seems to understand what is happening.”
Stampelos noted that the federal court is “not bound by what the state court does” and concluded that Alday poses “a certain danger” to the community, citing that he “has demonstrated a consistent trend over the past two years of competency issues and violations.” ”
Although court documents relating to Alday’s current arrest made no reference to specific prior charges or crimes, a man with the same name and age is listed on the Florida registry. sex offender and predator registry because of a 2006 accusation of molesting a minor between the ages of 12 and 15.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
