Texas 'Marine veteran' threatens to assassinate Trump in a series of online rants, gets 18 months
A 36-year-old man, seemingly a former US Army infantryman and Marine, has been handed an 18-month jail term in a Texas federal prison for threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump, the justice department has announced.
Mickael Gedlu's sentencing came via a video conference by Chief US District Judge Barbara M G Lynn on Friday, April 24. The man from Richardson pleaded guilty to the charges last December after being indicted in July last year. The news about Gedlu’s sentencing came to light through a statement issued by Attorney Erin Nealy Cox’s office in Dallas.
As per the plea documents, Gedlu conceded to issuing a series of life threats against Trump on social media between December 2018 and June 2019. In a YouTube video, the man was seen saying: “I am waiting for Trump to visit Dallas before I attempt to assassinate him.”
Also in a post made on Facebook last June, he said: “For 20 straight months now, openly and publicly, I have been calling for President Trump’s death.” The same posts revealed more about his history and personality as he said: "I recently signed up for college classes. The stress from needing to read the books, reminds me of why I dropped out of University in 2015. Even after some therapy, I still can not escape the psychological effects of having been molested before puberty. I avoid eye contact with everyone, and panic around women. I hear that micro-dosing on shrooms or LSD may help reset my brain functions, for the better. But I have no idea how to get them. I have no connections, no friends, and no social skills."
Proceedings in court revealed that on May 31, 2018, Gedlu was seen displaying a “Kill Trump” sign while standing on a street near Dallas’ Adolphus Hotel just half an hour before Trump reached there for a fundraiser. The man repeatedly screamed “kill the president” and was detained.
Gedlu’s picture-less profile on LinkedIn identifies him as one who served as a Flight Equipment Technician for the US Marine Corps between 2002 and 2008 and Mechanized Infantryman for the US Army for three years starting 2007. His Facebook profile features a number of photographs that showed him as a military serviceman in Iraq.
The Dallas Morning News tried to verify the military career of Gedlu, who apparently has no criminal history. However, the National Personnel Records Center (NPPC) which verifies military service said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic restricts it to answering only urgent requests. The Daily Mail also tried to verify Gedlu’s past through the Marines and NPPC but was yet to get a response.
Gedlu's father called him 'sick person'
Gedlu’s father Gizaw, however, said last July that his son is a "sick person" in a report. He said Gedlu is mentally confused and has been hospitalized on a number of occasions for unspecified mental conditions. Gizaw added that he was not aware of Gedlu’s social media activities but knew that he wrote several emails. He said his son would regularly watch the news and then shout about Trump outside. The 71-year-old man said Gedlu talks too much and doesn’t take the medicines that the doctors have prescribed.
Judge Lynn had ordered Gedlu’s physical examination and granted a defense motion to determine his competency. But court records were not conclusive whether such an examination indeed took place or what was its conclusion, the Mail reported.
News about assassination threats to President Donald Trump is nothing new. In January, a security guard in Florida was arrested on charges of threatening to assassinate Trump over his military strike that killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani in Iraq. Chauncy Devonte Lump, 26 — a security guard at Sunstate Security — caught the attention of authorities after he uploaded a seven-minute video on Facebook.