Man Arrested for Death Threats Against Trump During Arizona Border Visit

MONTEZUMA PASS, Ariz.—As former President Donald Trump was heading out of Cochise County, Arizona, on Aug. 22, police were arresting a local man suspected of making death threats against the presidential candidate.

Police identified the suspect as Ronald Lee Syvrud, 66, from the city of Benson. The former president said he had been unaware that a manhunt for the suspect was underway during his campaign stop at the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Carol Capas, spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, told The Epoch Times that the alleged threats were made on social media. Capas did not say whether police found any evidence that the suspect intended to make good on the alleged threats.

Syvrud was charged with two counts of threatening in connection with the posts about Trump, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. He also faces a felony warrant from Graham County, Arizona, for failure to register as a sex offender. He remained in the Cochise County Jail awaiting court action during the evening of Aug. 22.

The agency later updated that Facebook post, stating that someone alerted the sheriff’s office about “a threatening message on social media…directed at candidate Donald Trump” on Aug. 21.

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“This message contained language that indicated bodily harm to the candidate,” the agency said, adding that investigators found a second Trump-threatening post from Syvrud on Aug. 22.

“As part of the operations plan in place for the visit of candidate Donald Trump…locating this subject was a priority,” the sheriff’s office Facebook post said.

After learning that Syvrud might be in a small community named St. David, officers went to that location. Around 2:16 p.m., the officers spotted Syvrud in the area, and he was arrested without incident.

Capas said Syvrud was arrested around 2:30 p.m. local time. That was about an hour after the former president finished making remarks and answering reporters’ questions at a section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Cochise County.

Around 1:15 p.m., when a reporter asked whether Trump was aware of an ongoing manhunt relating to death threats against him or whether he might be in danger for visiting Cochise County, Trump said, “I’ve heard it’s dangerous, but I also have a job to do.”

But, about the specific threat, he said: “I haven’t heard about that; They probably want to keep it from me.”

Jokingly, he said: “Let’s get out of here right now.”

However, Trump did acknowledge that some people didn’t want him to make this border visit because of concerns about his safety. “I have heard it was very unsafe to make this trip,” he said. “And the reason is that I want to do things that are very bad for the bad guys.”

In advance of Trump’s visit, police blocked nearby roads, and no one was allowed in except pre-approved news crews, guest speakers, campaign staff, and invited guests. Secret Service officers screened all news media personnel—their belongings, equipment, and vehicles.

As Trump spoke, snipers were stationed on elevated platforms nearby.

The former president pointed out that additional barriers had been placed along the wall. The thick metal panels would block people on the Mexican side of the border from seeing attendees of the border event, he said, telling dozens of reporters that this security measure was protecting them, too.

The former president took the opportunity to again commend Secret Service officers as he has done repeatedly since he survived a July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“I have great respect for Secret Service, the job they do, including a month and a half ago, when they were jumping on top of me with bullets flying right at them,” he said.

In an apparent reference to continuing concerns over security failures at the Butler event, Trump said, “So, mistakes were made, and they’re going to learn from the mistakes. But I have great respect.”