Main: President Donald Trump speaks from the first tee box prior to the Presidents Cup golf tournament final round singles matches between the USA and International teams at Medinah Country Club, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Medinah, Ill. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum). Inset: Jaden J. Read (Court filing).
A 24-year-old man in Kansas is accused of threatening to assassinate Donald Trump in a series of social media posts, including one in which he allegedly said the president was going to "get kirked" — an apparent reference to the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk — and claimed to have "mapped out" rooftops around the location of Trump's upcoming rally in the state.
Federal authorities charged Jaden John Read with one count of knowingly and willfully threatening to take the president's life and inflict bodily harm, court records show.
The case against Read, filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas, was initially flagged by independent journalist Seamus Hughes.
According to the statement of probable cause, the alleged threats were posted to Facebook on Oct. 15, four days before Trump was scheduled to speak in Wichita.
The Wichita Police Department contacted the U.S. Secret Service after receiving a Crime Stoppers tip about threatening comments on Facebook. The tip included screenshots of two comments posted by a user identified as "Jaden Read" in response to an article on the website of local ABC affiliate KAKE about the presidential visit.
"Lets shoot Trump honestly. Where's our shooter? I'm tired of living this money life," the first comment allegedly stated.
Immediately afterward, the same account allegedly posted: "I just got a 308 and 305 round and I'm killing this pedo."
Secret Service investigators later reviewed a Facebook page they attributed to Read and allegedly found two additional comments beneath a news article on local CBS affiliate KWCH about Trump's pending appearance.
At about 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 15, Read allegedly wrote: "Can we shoot him in Kansas please I will myself."
One minute later, he allegedly added: "Lk where your speech will be. Already mapped out roofs around.Finna get Kirked since y'all couldn't help him."
Investigators confirmed that the two comments allegedly posted in response to the KWCH article remained active as of Oct. 17, according to the complaint.
In response to an emergency disclosure request from federal agents, Facebook provided investigators with information allegedly showing that Read was the person in control of the account, which was created on March 3, 2019. Facebook also provided a registered email address that investigators matched to an email listed on Read's Kansas Department of Labor unemployment benefits application.
The account was accessed on Oct. 15 from an IP address that investigators geolocated to Clearwater, Kansas, which authorities said was consistent with the location listed on Read's Facebook profile.
It was not immediately clear when Read was scheduled to appear in court.