Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida security guard threatened to kill President Donald Trump as retaliation for the U.S. military killing an Iranian general, posting a live video on Facebook where he stated “he killed my leader and I have to kill him” while periodically displaying a semi-automatic rifle, authorities said in court documents.
Chauncy Lump, 26, of the Fort Lauderdale area, faces federal charges of threatening to kill the president and remained jailed Thursday with bond set at $100,000, according to court documents filed Wednesday by the Secret Service. He told agents the threats weren't serious.
Agent Lucas White wrote that shortly after Trump announced last week that a U.S. airstrike had killed Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in retaliation for plotting numerous terrorist attacks, Lump under the name “BlackMan vs. America” began livestreaming a seven-minute video. During that video, agents say Lump made several threats against the president, who was staying at his Mar-a-Lago club, less than an hour away.
Lump had white cream on his face, a towel wrapped like a turban on his head and an apparent shower curtain wrapped on his body, White wrote of the video that Facebook reported to the authorities on Friday.
Lump made several threats, including “He killed my leader, please tell me where is Donald Trump?” and “I need to find the Donald because if I don't find him, I am going to have to blow up Broward County," White wrote. During the video, Lump showed a loaded AK-47 semi-automatic rifle.
The affidavit does not say where Lump works as a security guard, but it says he has a concealed weapons permit.
When confronted early Saturday at his home, Lump admitted producing the video in response to Soleimani's death, but said it was a joke, White wrote. But nowhere in the video did Lump say he was joking and conceded, “I should not have did it in the first place,” White wrote.
No attorney is listed for Lump in court documents.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
