72-year-old man from New York charged with threatening to kidnap and kill Donald Trump

A 72-year-old man from New York city was indicted for threatening to kidnap and kill former US president Donald Trump.

Thomas Welnicki was formally arrested on Monday after investigations showed incriminating evidence against him.

Welnicki had made several phone calls to the Secret Service over the past one year threatening Trump with dire consequences if he failed to leave the White House, according to federal court documents. 

According to the complaint, Melnick told US Capitol Police during an interrogation in July 2020 that if Trump “loses the 2020 election and refused to step down” he would “acquire weapons and take him down.”

Welnicki also allegedly told the Secret Service that there was a $350,000 reward to kill Trump and the lawmakers and said he might travel to Georgia on the same day the then-president was due to be there, January 4, 2021.

Also read | Trump retaliates against Biden's Capitol riot anniversary speech, calls it 'political theatre'

Trump was referred to as “Individual-1” in the complaint filed in US District Court in Brooklyn. But a footnote in that document identifies Welnicki’s target as the person who served as president from January 2017 through January 2021.

According to the complaint, in one voicemail left with the Secret Service, Welnicki said he would “do anything I can to take out” Trump.

“Oh yeah, that’s a threat to come and arrest me,” he was quoted as saying. “I will do anything I can to take out (Trump) and his 12 monkeys … if I had the opportunity to do it in Manhattan, that would be awesome … tomorrow (Trump) will be in Georgia, maybe I will.”

Also read | Trump's 'non-woke' social media app rivalling the 'biased' big-tech to launch soon

By 12 monkeys, he referred to 12 unnamed members of Congress.

Melnick is also accused of having called the Secret Service's desk in New York City last November three times from his cell phone, introducing himself by name each time.

As part of his bail conditions, he was ordered to nightly house arrest and to be fitted with a GPS monitoring device.

In addition, he was ordered to seek support for his mental health as well as to seek treatment for any addiction to alcohol or drugs, said a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office.

(With inputs from agencies)