NEW YORK — A Queens man has been arrested for making quite a few threats to kill former President Donald Trump, federal investigators stated Monday.
“I do not want to hurt anyone, but I will stand up to fascism,” stated the 72-year-old Rockaway Beach resident, Thomas Welnicki, throughout a voluntary July 2020 interview with regulation enforcement.
When Welnicki was interviewed by the United States Capitol Police he advised them that if Trump misplaced the election however refused to go away workplace Welnicki would “acquire weapons” and “take him down,” in accordance to a prison grievance unsealed in Brooklyn Federal Court Monday.
The grievance doesn’t identify Trump, referring to him as an alternative as “Individual 1,” however a regulation enforcement supply confirmed the goal was the previous president.
“I really hope God takes (Individual 1) out,” Welnicki additionally stated, in accordance to the grievance.
On Jan. 4, 2021, Welnicki known as the Secret Service’s Long Island Branch and left voicemails saying he would kill Trump in addition to 12 different individuals who supported the previous president, together with members of Congress, the grievance says.
“Oh yeah, that’s a threat, come and arrest me,” Welnicki allegedly stated within the voicemail. “I will do anything I can to take out (Individual 1) and his 12 monkeys. If I had the opportunity to do it in Manhattan that would be awesome.”
Even after Trump left workplace, Welnicki’s threats didn’t abate, the feds stated.
“I will do everything I can to make sure (Individual 1) is dead,” Welnicki stated in a name to the Secret Service’s New York City Duty Desk on Nov. 8, 2021, throughout which he repeatedly referred to Trump as “Hitler,” in accordance to prosecutors.
The subsequent day, Welnicki admitted to regulation enforcement that he made the decision to the key service, prosecutors stated.
Welnicki was arrested by Secret Service police Monday and made his first look in Brooklyn Federal Court Monday afternoon.
Brooklyn Federal Judge Vera Scanlon ordered him launched on $50,000 bond signed by his brother. Prosecutors agreed to the discharge and requested that Welnicki obtain a psychological well being analysis and alcohol remedy. Welnicki will probably be GPS monitored whereas he’s out on bail.
“We do believe that the nature of these crimes are serious,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Zapana stated in court docket. “They are dangerous.”
But Welnicki’s lawyer Deirdre Von Dornum stated her shopper is just not a menace to Trump or anyone else.
“If there were any actual danger here I am certain that they would have arrested him sooner,” Von Dornum stated in court docket.
“Mr. Welnicki intended no harm to anyone and posed no actual threat,” she advised the Daily News. “He was expressing how distraught he was at what he saw as the attempted murder of Lady Liberty.”
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