An Arizona man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for threatening to “execute” President Donald Trump and Kamala Harris with firearms at the presidential inauguration.
Rene Ortiz, 56, of Casa Grande, issued written threats on Election Day in 2024, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona. In his note, Ortiz stated he would “shoot the incoming fraudulent elected President of the United States … at the inauguration on January 20th, 2025.”
The individual wrote that he would “execute the newly elected President of the United States by firing an M-16A2 service rifle with a magazine of 6 rounds” and delivered it to the federal courthouse in Phoenix.
After Trump won the election, Ortiz issued another written threat delivered to a federal courthouse in Tucson. In that threat, he wrote he would shoot “the incoming fraudulent elected President of the United States … at the inauguration on January 20th, 2025.”
Ortiz was interviewed by U.S. Secret Service and reiterated his intent to attack the president. He was arrested on January 17, 2025, before the presidential inauguration.
Following a federal jury conviction on June 8, Ortiz was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen M. McNamee on Tuesday.
Separately, a 24-year-old man named Jaden Read was arrested in Clearwater, Kansas after posting social media messages threatening to kill the president during his visit to the state. Read allegedly wrote: “Let’s shoot Trump honestly, where’s our shooter? I’m tired of living this money life,” and added that he had “mapped out roofs” around the president’s speech.
