A judge has sentenced a Texas man accused of threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump to 18 months in prison, prosecutors said.
The judge sentenced Mickael Gedlu, 36, via video conferencing as court proceedings have gone virtual to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Gedlu pleaded guilty in December to making the threats against Trump.
The Texas man admitted he threatened Trump’s life on social media multiple times between December 2018 and June 2019, according to plea documents.
Gedlu stated in one YouTube video that he was “waiting for Trump to visit Dallas before I attempt to assassinate him,” according to the documents.
He also wrote on Facebook on June 5, 2019, “For 20 straight months now, openly and publicly, I have been calling for President Trump’s death,” the Dallas Morning News reported.
On May 31, 2018, Gedlu set himself up across the street from the Adolphus Hotel 30 minutes before Trump was scheduled to arrive there for a fundraiser, prosecutors said.
Dallas police officers noticed he held up a “Kill Trump” sign and began screaming, “Kill the president!” before authorities detained him.
The U.S. Secret Service conducted the investigation in conjunction with the Dallas Police Department, prosecutors said.
A LinkedIn profile under his name said Gedlu served in the Marines as a Flight Equipment Technician between December 2002 and December 2008 and in the Army as a Mechanized Infantryman between September 2009 and December 2010.
Gedlu’s father told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that his son is mentally confused and disabled.
“That’s his problem,” Gizaw Gedlu said. “He talks too much, simply. Doctors give him medicine. Sometimes he’s not taking it.”
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