Police and agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have arrested an Arizona man, Manuel Tamayo-Torres, on charges of making expletive-laden death threats against President-elect Donald Trump and his family, and attempting to illegally buy guns. The suspect has a violent past, having been convicted of assault causing great bodily injury in California and receiving a six-year prison sentence.
Tamayo-Torres also has an active restraining order against him in Arizona, stemming from an incident in July 2023. His felony history and the restraining order prohibit him from owning firearms, but he allegedly made multiple attempts to buy guns from a Phoenix store, lying on the background check forms about his criminal history.
According to court documents, Tamayo-Torres posted videos on Facebook in which he made sensitive and threatening statements about the President-elect, claiming he would “bur[y] him himself.” He also ranted about “white privilege” and threatened to shoot the President-elect and his family.
In one video, Tamayo-Torres allegedly held what appears to be a white AR-15-style rifle with a 30-round magazine and accused the President-elect of “touching his minor children.” He also threatened to kill the President-elect and his family, as well as the Secret Service agents protecting them.
As detectives investigated his Facebook account, they found images from an August 2023 Trump rally in Glendale, Arizona, where he was in the same location as the President-elect. They also found other photos of the suspect holding firearms, which he was not legally allowed to possess.
Tamayo-Torres has been charged with multiple federal offenses and is expected to be sent back to Arizona to face his charges.
