Arizona man arrested for allegedly threatening Trump during state visit

BISBEE, Arizona – A southern Arizona man was arrested for allegedly making death threats against Donald Trump on social media, authorities said Thursday, the same day the former Republican president and 2024 presidential candidate was in the area to visit the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Cochise County Sheriff's Office identified the suspect as Ronald Lee Syvrud, 66, of the town of Benson, in the same county as the border area Trump visited that afternoon and that his running mate, Senator JD Vance, has visited in recent weeks.

The sheriff's office said Syvrud was arrested during a traffic stop around 2:30 p.m.

“As part of the operational plan for today's visit by US President Donald Trump, locating this individual was a priority,” the agency said in a statement.

An online search did not reveal any social media accounts in Syvrud's name or contact information for him. His name did not immediately appear on the county jail's inmate list, and there was no information yet on whether he had a court date or an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

The sheriff's office said Syvrud had multiple warrants out for his arrest in Wisconsin for drunken driving and failure to appear in court. He was also charged with hit and run in Graham County, Arizona, and failure to register as a sex offender in Coconino County, Arizona.

Trump survived an assassination attempt on July 13. In his first outdoor rally since the attack on Wednesday, he spoke behind bulletproof glass at a national security event in North Carolina.

Originally published: August 22, 2024 at 22:30