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Arizona man sentenced for threats against Trump and Harris

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 22 Oct, 23:33 · Archive

A Casa Grande man received 38 months in prison for threatening to kill Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during the 2024 election.

Rene Ortiz, 56, of Casa Grande was sentenced to 38 months in prison for threatening to kill Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during the 2024 election. A federal jury convicted him on two counts of making threats against successors to the presidency and one count of threats against former presidents.

Ortiz left a written note at the federal courthouse in Phoenix on election day, 5 November 2024, stating he would 'execute the newly elected [President of the United States] by firing an M-16A2 service rifle with a magazine of 6 rounds'. On 25 November, he left a second note at the courthouse in Tucson threatening to shoot 'the incoming fraudulent elected [President of the United States] … at the inauguration on January 20th, 2025'.

According to court documents, Ortiz filed a civil lawsuit in September 2024 requesting that both candidates be removed from the ballot and that he be placed on the ballot for president with Joe Biden as his vice president. He claimed to be a U.S. Marine veteran. When interviewed by the Secret Service, Ortiz admitted to making the threats and said he would follow through 'if my demands are not met'. He was arrested on 17 January 2025, days before Trump's inauguration.

Arizona man sentenced for threats against Trump and Harris
Image: KOLD

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In this story: Rene Ortiz · Donald Trump · Kamala Harris · Casa Grande · Phoenix · Tucson · U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona

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