A 20-year-old man has been charged with threatening to assassinate US President Barrack Obama.
In a Feb 21 posting on Facebook under the name of “Jay Valor”, Joaquin Amador Serrapio required others’ help to assassinate Obama during the president’s Feb 23 visit to the University of Miami (UM).
Serrapio made another posting Feb 23, saying: “If anyone’s going to UM to see Obama today, get your phones out and record. Because at any moment I’m gonna put a bullet through his head and you don’t wanna miss that! Youtube!”
The US Secret Service, responsible for protecting the president, searched Serrapio’s home last Thursday and found an iPad which he used to make the postings. They also discovered a sniper-style pellet rifle and a pellet handgun in his bedroom, Xinhua reported.
Though no evidence was found that he took any steps to carry out the threat against Obama, Serrapio, who fronts the “J. Valor Band” rock group, was arrested.
Freed on a $70,000 bail, Serrapio has been ordered to undergo a mental health assessment.
If convicted, the charge of threatening to assassinate the president carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.