President Donald Trump’s time in office continues to prove a contentious time for Americans. A man in Florida has been hit with federal charges after it came out that during an incident including an altercation with a Fort Lauderdale-area Walmart employee, he railed about wanting to “cut” Trump. The man — 36-year-old Mohammed Omar Haji Mohammed — had first tried to cut the employee with a pair of scissors, and his eventual threats against Trump were captured in police body-cam footage. The threats were in Arabic but eventually translated.
Besides his federal charge, Mohammed has also been hit with charges of aggravated assault, battery against a police officer, and disorderly conduct. Cops used a stun gun to help subdue him when he was first taken into custody. The Associated Press reports that a federal charge of threatening the president entails “a maximum five-year prison sentence, up to $250,000 in fines and possible deportation for non-citizens.” He apparently shouted the following as cops closed in:
‘We are coming for you Trump. We are coming for you with knives. God will send angels to destroy you… l need Trump cut. I want to cut, two portions.’
There’s no apparent indication that his behavior indicates any credible threat against the president, although in the days leading up to the early July Walmart incident, he apparently “made suspicious Facebook posts about doing something that would be newsworthy.” An anonymous source gave information about Mohammed’s behavior to federal authorities just two days before the supermarket meltdown.
One of the posts apparently read:
‘Whoever knows why I came to America wait for the urgent news on television screens and victory is from Allah.’
Although it’s not even immediately clear why Mohammed might have been sparked against Trump in the first place, Trump has incessantly targeted the Muslim community, which this individual, however disturbed, could have been hoping to use as an excuse for violence. Trump rose to national prominence with a promise to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, and he eventually got a version of that ban enacted, blocking travel to the United States from a number of Muslim-majority countries around the world. Trump can thank the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court he helped enact for that victory.
There have been a selection of incidents similar to the recent Florida one involving people taken into custody for threats against Trump. In late 2017, in perhaps one of the most bizarre examples available, a man in North Dakota plotted to use a stolen forklift to flip Trump’s motorcade when it came through the area, which would have the presumed effect of killing the president. That man has been hit with an array of charges and according to one report, “is expected to remain in prison for decades.”
It’s definitely not just those opposing Trump who have made breaks like this. In perhaps one of the most infamous recent examples, ardent Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc sent attempts at explosive devices to an array of interests he perceived as opposing Trump. None of them went off, and he’s since been taken into custody and charged.
Featured Image via screenshot
