Florida man charged with making Facebook posts threatening Trump

Shira Moolten, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Jan 25, 2025

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A West Palm Beach man was arrested Friday night after police say he made a series of Facebook posts suggesting that President Donald Trump should be assassinated.

Shannon Depararro Atkins, 46, is now charged with written threats to kill or do bodily injury as well as smuggling contraband and possession of a controlled substance. Police had found baggies of cocaine when they arrested Atkins during a traffic stop near one of his homes, according to West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo, who announced the charges at a news conference Saturday afternoon.

The investigation began earlier this past week, when a man living in Okeechobee sent a tip in to the FBI National Threat Operations Center on Sunday, Araujo said, reporting posts Atkins had made on Facebook. The next day, a West Palm Beach Police detective who is also on the FBI task force began investigating the “disturbing” posts.

In one post, Atkins shared a post someone else had made depicting Trump surrounded by figures including Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King with the caption “All stood up to Democrats. All were shot.”

Above it, he wrote, “Unfortunately one is still alive.”

In another post, Atkins wrote, “I’ve been banned from X because I said I hope and pray someone kills him … We haven’t had an assassination in years,” according to photos shared by West Palm Beach Police.

Police began surveilling Atkins, who has two homes in West Palm Beach. On Friday, just before 7:30 p.m., officers pulled him over while he was driving his white BMW near one of his homes in the 400 block of Pacific Grove drive and arrested him.

Later, during an interview, Atkins admitted to writing the posts, but said that he was joking, Araujo said.

“Folks, this is not a joke,” Araujo said. “Nothing of that sort is a joke.”

Atkins is being held in Palm Beach County Jail awaiting a pretrial detention hearing. Prosecutors are seeking to keep him imprisoned without bond, and police have filed a petition for a risk protection order against him. The Secret Service is also looking into the case and determining whether to pursue federal charges, Araujo said.

“In today’s climate, you really can’t say things like this,” he said. “We have incident after incident, example after example of when these threats become real.”