A Florida man has been arrested after using Facebook to allegedly threaten Donald Trump.
Shannon Depararro Atkins, 46, was taken into custody during a traffic stop in West Palm Beach on Friday, where police discovered three baggies of cocaine in his possession. The arrest followed a January 19th tip about disturbing social media posts targeting the former president.
“America needs one good bullet to be saved,” Atkins allegedly wrote on Facebook a day before Trump’s second-term inauguration. That same day, he claimed he had been banned from Twitter for stating, “I hope and pray someone kills him… History is supposed to repeat itself. We haven’t had an assassination in years.”
Later, Atkins reportedly shared a meme calling inauguration day a “day of mourning,” captioned, “Bullets please. Please Jesus! Save America.” West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo called the posts “violent rhetoric,” emphasizing, “This is not a joke.”
Atkins, who has voted Democrat since 2008 and owns Big Mama’s House of Sweets, admitted to the posts but claimed they were meant as jokes. He faces charges for drug possession and making written threats, with potential federal charges under review by the Secret Service.
The incident comes months after Trump survived two assassination attempts, including a July shooting at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. Chief Araujo stressed the gravity of threats, saying, “In today’s climate, you really can’t say things like this.”
Atkins remains held at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Main Detention Center.
